Sneaking across the street against the light while listening to a purloined tune on your boosted iPod? OK, the last offense might be the most serious, but when it comes to legal vs. illegal, it's a black-and-white scenario. And according to a new survey, most people find themselves on the dark side of the law at least once a day. The most common offenses? Speeding, littering, and using a cell phone while driving in places where it's prohibited.
People flout the little laws so often, the spokesman for the survey is troubled: "It's worrying to think that so many people are breaking the law on a daily basis. And it's an even bigger concern that many aren't at all bothered about it." Almost half of the respondents copped to speeding — and let's hope they aren't included in the 40 percent who confess to talking and texting on a cell phone while driving. Then the confessions get interesting: 19 percent say they've taken drugs, 35 percent download music illegally, and 25 percent say they've had sex in a public place. One wonders if all of those crimes were committed simultaneously?
The researcher says this of the lawlessness, "Some of these crimes might seem petty but they were all made illegal for a reason." Is breaking a tiny law OK? Do you believe on 35 percent have illegally downloaded music? Have you broken a law today?
Dior Homme
Labour Of Love
Celine
This is just more proof that we have far too many laws.
1No laws broken today, but I did eat a breakfast bar on a bus with a no food sign. I cleaned up after myself and took my package out with me, though.
2And apparently, I'm perfect.
I don't drive, I don't carry a cellphone, I don't download music, I've never taken an illegal drug and I don't litter. I've only done one of the other things listed once.
3wow, according to this list i'm a total scofflaw. always wanted to use that word and mean it. hooray!
4OMG, Steph, would that be sex in a public place???
5Nope, I haven't broken a law today.
I'm not perfect, but one thing I almost never do is speed--I'm too paranoid of cops.
6Oh, my Jude - I have a total lead-foot! I need to get that under control....
7Oh, my Jude - I have a total lead-foot! I need to get that under control....
8I've been driving around for about a week without a current inspection sticker. Cuff me!
9I never speed (my father is an ex-cop so I was taught that rule very early on.) And I cannot stand people that text & drive; do they not realize how dangerous that is? I think it is worse than driving while on a cell since you need to type and your focus is not on the road, it is on incoming texts.
No, I have not broken any law today.
10Well, it does help that my car doesn't want to go above 60 unless I really gun it.
11Nice job Detective Martini!
12
13Steph - I love it!
maybe citizensugar is a bad influence. i mean, right at this very moment i'm smoking a joint, engaging in a sex act, and using my iphone to talk to my friend, illegally download music and send this comment - whilst driving (over the speed limit). oh, and the car's looking pretty clean now that i've tossed all of the garbage out of the windows.
14hee hee, Steph! I've done that too!
But today, I haven't broken any laws.
15That's what I call multitasking, YY! A skill to be prized!
16y'all and your dots!
17I actually have to read the name now to figure out who is posting!
oops just rear ended someone.
18Yikes YY, considering the other posts, that sounds real bad!
Sorry about the dots Martini - in our defense, they are color coded. I am trying to figure out a post-election picture I could stick with, based on you past concern.
19Steph, you are killing me!
Thanks for thinking of me, post-election!
20HAHAH!! didn't even catch that.
21I speed every single time I drive but I'm not a dangerous driver. I also jaywalk on a very regular basis. And I see nothing wrong with smoking pot, even though I do not partake.
Littering pisses me off because it affects others, not just yourself.
Sex in public is only wrong if I see you.
Certain laws make sense. Other laws are designed to somehow prevent people from breaking laws already in existence. Like idiots who swerve in and out of their lanes while texting should be covered under reckless driving or something. You shouldn't need a special rule for each sub offense.
But if I'm on a road by myself driving 10 miles over the speed limit, I'm basically only endangering myself and I would like the ability to do that unimpeded.
22Pop, well said. Although I might add that sex in public is also wrong if you leave a mess for somebody else to clean up.
23"Sex in public is only wrong if I see you."
True.
24Surprisingly I agree with pop and Michelin. I rarely drive under 80 on the freeway and usually drive 10 mph over speed limit in the city. I even drive through red lights if no one is around. ...and sex in public, don't knock it 'til you've tried it
25LOL I haven't broken any city/federal laws today....work laws well that's something else
26I'm usually to ashamed to say this but I have sent a text while driving once. I felt bad so never done it since. I speed all the time. I've littered a couples times (please don't kill me). I've had sex in my car, but only twice. I used to jaywalk everyday after getting off of the school bus. I break the law all the time, unfortunately.
27I wish I could speed, but the local police had their funding cut so all of sudden they are EVERYWHERE, which causes everyone to drive slower than normal...grr!
I used to break the law all the time, now I don't too much...I've become boring in my old age.
28My new resolution is to stop using my phone in the car. Stop, stop, stop!
29Wow is this a confession thread? I've broken every one of those laws!
Although the littering is the one thing I do the least...
30I generally hate the telephone and resent that technology has made it possible for someone to reach me just about anywhere - the only law I'm likely to break regarding cellphones is to kill the chick in the bathroom stall next to me who's yakking away!
31That is so weird. It's bad enough when people talk loudly on the phone, but doing it in the bathroom stall reaches a whole new level of weird. This happened to me at the airport recently.
32i think that it really depends on the situation. in NYC - yes technically crossing the street when it doesn't say 'go' is illegal, but if we all had to wait until we had the walk sign - we would NEVER get anywhere. it's the small things like that which i don't find fault in, however i can understand that sometimes people do get hit by a car so in situations like that it's a bad thing.
33If there weren't so many unnessary laws it wouldn't matter so much, and then maybe our tax dollars would accutually be utalized in a way that could benfit us all!
34I always speed, so I break the law almost every day. But speeding doesn't necessarily equal dangerous, I'm not one of those people who zip between lanes and cut people off. I usually drive only 5-7 mph above the speed limit on residential streets, because the cops are really strict in my area (their commission is based on how many speeding tickets they give) but I go about 10-20 miles over the speed limit on the freeway (which I use quite often to get to other cities). I've never gotten a speeding ticket so far
I don't usually talk on the phone while I'm driving (I'll use speakerphone if I need to) but
I will text on occasion, usually when I'm at a stoplight. I rarely litter or do some of those other things though...
35Mich! Get your sticker taken care of! I was pulled over for an over due registration sticker last month, I was interviewed by three cops for forty-five minutes, they searched my car, claimed that I could not renew it online (they made up an excuse about my plates being stolen and tried to tell me I stole my own car) and towed my car. Come to find out the next day from the RMV, there is no record of stolen plates connected with my license number and I could have renewed my registration online while I was there with the cops. My car never had to be towed. It cost me hundreds to bail my car out of jail.
Get that taken care of or this could happen to you!
36Oh my God, I would have freaked out. They probably would have had to take me to jail. I really need to get the inspection done I just haven't had time.
37It's not against the law here to drive and talk on the cell phone, however, I know it's not safe and yet I still find myself doing it everyday.
38I just tried to stay very calm. I really felt like they were looking for a reason to arrest me, so I just tried to be cool. The funny thing was, my car was broken into the month before and it was hit outside my house. So when they came out with this stolen plate nonsense, I asked, "why didn't the cops from last month find this when they filed their reports?" and they just said it was because the other cops "didn't do their job"
yeah. It was because those plates were
never stolen.
My dad said it was because I was driving while not white. I really didn't want to believe that, so I had my coworker call her friend who just happens to be the boss of the traffic troopers. He said that they don't "do racial profiling." That he would know if his cops were targeting a certain race because he audits their traffic tickets. I thought that was kind of funny because the cop put on my ticket that I am white.
This probably belongs on the race post, but I just really hate to think that I was racially profiled.
So yeah, be careful. It could be unpleasant.
39I always feel like they tow your car unnecessarily because they have some kickback scheme with the tow yards. It really does cost so much to get your car back, and especially if you got towed after business hours and can't go to the DMV straight away, or got towed on a Friday afternoon, you are screwed out of hundreds of dollars.
(It happened to me. It was something like $700 to get the car back on Monday, the earliest I could do it.)
40I always think it's funny that the police don't have to pay for things they damage, or when they make mistakes.
41Jude,
$700!?! I got lucky. I only had to pay $200.
Mich, I know. They don't have to apologize or anything. The whole thing was really shocking to me because cops have always been really nice to me. I don't have any record and my last ticket was in 2001. I know my rights were violated when they searched my car. They kept implying that they were going to find drugs in it, too. The whole thing was very disheartening.
42I havent broken any law yet today. but its still early.
43BTW the old dude in the picture, looks like he needs some activia.
44i've crossed about 10 streets against the light this morning so far, i wonder how many more i can do before the day is over!
45THis post is so funny--all the confessions!
I speed ALL THE TIME. I personally would like to know who decides speed limits. Some of them are just TOO slow--old people slow! Some cops need to lighten the heck up.
One thing I never do is litter--littering pisses me off!!! What makes people think others want to see their crap laying on the side of the road?
46Speeding? Check.
Sex in a public place? Check.
Mind-altering substances? Check.
Downloading music? Yeah, that, too.
That's about it. I'm a fairly decent human being! I think...
47I haven't broken any TODAY, but I think that the "minor" law that get broken are Americans' way of telling the government "Get the hell out of my private life!" Everything we do now has some sort of law attached to it. "Go to a bar, BUT YOU CAN'T SMOKE." "Drive faster than you used to (55 to 70?) but DON'T SPEED!" "Call 911 if you see someone committing a crime BUT DON'T DO IT WHILE DRIVING" and the list goes on.
I am the daughter of a cop too, and my father taught us early and often about the rules of the road. I abide by them, but right now because I need to buy a new car, I'm probably breaking the law unintentionally. See, my speedometer is broken and to fix it would cost more than my car is worth. So, I just go with traffic until I get my new car. And believe me, in THIS economy that's going to be a while.
48I did break the law today... I speed all the time
and did the "philly slide" about twice this
morning aka ran thru yellow lights were I should have really stopped! oo..and I went 20 mph thru a 15 mph school zone..hmm all before 8:30 this morning! Clearly I am a criminal
49Get out of my private life?
Laws against smoking in bars are to protect the other people in the bar (customers and employees) from toxic smoke. Not speeding and not talking on the phone in the car protect other people from your dangerous driving. I don't see how that invades your privacy; it's a matter of public safety.
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