The now repealed Marketing of Potatoes Act 1946 from Western Australia prohibited transporting more than 50kg of potatoes.
Clearly it was an obscure law that may have been relevant at the time, but there are plenty more quirky road rules in Australia.
What are some of the road rules still in force that you might not expect?
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How does the law answer some of those burning questions around driving? Here are three unusual examples.
Can you eat while driving?
The answer to this question can be found in the Road Rules 2014 in New South Wales, specifically s 297.
Under (1), a driver is required to have “proper control of the vehicle”. What does that mean? Well, its vagueness is deliberate by design to cover many situations.
While it is not expressly against the law to eat while driving, if it impedes a driver’s capacity to have proper control over their vehicle, it constitutes an offence.
The penalties can be hefty as well. Up to 20 penalty units, which equates to $2200.
Your fate rests with the discretion of the police officer who catches you.
My indicators have stopped working! What should I do?
So your indicator stops working. What do you do?
Luckily s 50 of the Road Rules has you covered. And they’ve even got diagrams.
If you want to turn right, stick your arm out of the driver’s window straight.
If you want to turn left, well the law doesn’t specify that, so you’re on your own with that one.
The law can help out if your brake lights aren’t working under s 55.
Extend your arm out of the driver side window and place it at a right angle, keeping your elbow parallel to the base of the window.
Do note though, it is illegal to travel in a motor vehicle with any part of the person’s body outside a window or door under s 268(3), unless signalling to turn right or slow down (3)(b).
That will also set you back up to $2200.
The bus passenger protection law
Just because you are driving past a bus passenger in your car does not give you the right to splash mud on them in New South Wales.
Under s 291(3), a driver must slow down or stop their vehicle to prevent splashing mud on anyone getting on or off a bus.
It also covers passengers actually on the bus and those waiting at a bus stop.
Expect to pay up to $2200 for this offence.
