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Laws are meant to give society structure, set standards for behavior, and help keep people safe. But just because they’re written down doesn’t mean everyone follows them.
One Redditor asked: What is something illegal that almost everyone does anyway? The answers ranged from minor slip-ups to rules you might not even know existed. Scroll down to see what they shared, and decide for yourself if these “offenses” are terrible or not so bad.
Just remember, this isn’t an endorsement—be responsible with your own choices.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Littering and not picking up after their dogs when they poop. It's gross and i'm sick of seeing it.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago (edited)
I have a neighbour who let his dogs poop in front of my garage door. I hate that guy. (Edit - Unfortunately he also puts his music really really loudly at 3am and the whole neighborhood hates that so the last time I went to speak to him it escalated and I threatened to call the cops on him, so I'm really not sure that throwing dog poop on his house would fix all that...)
RELATED:
#2
Downloading copyrighted media …. Allegedly .. not me obviously … in fact I don’t even know what downloading is ….
#3
I don’t know about illegal, but I’m in my twentieth year of my winrar free trial.
#4
Drive over the speed limit.
At least occasionally.
Upstaged75 3 months ago
In my current stage of life I never drive more than 5 miles over the limit. This is because when I was young and in a hurry all the time I racked up massive fines and points on my license. It's just not worth it - I'll get there when I get there. No need to risk unnecessary expenses or the lives of other people.
#5
Distracted driving. Whether texting, changing the radio, eating or drinking….its all classified under distracted driving. (May vary some by state).
#6
Clicking ‘I have read and agree to the terms and conditions.
#7
Driving like f**king maniacs and endangering everyone else to gain mere seconds.
LEAVE EARLIER if you're in a rush. It's crazy how it didn't bother me that much before, but now that i have a child, if somebody endagers while my child in the car by driving like a m****c, it makes me unreasonably angry at them.
#8
Drinking when under the age limit restrictions.
Hmmm hmmmm 3 months ago
Technically in the UK it is legal to drink alcohol in private from 5 years old and I don't know many toddlers who are drinking. Maybe some hungover toddlers around but not all.
#9
For cyclists, traffic lights are recommendations.
#10
Tailgating nobody keeps a safe following distance anymore.
Aleksandras Tvardauskas 3 months ago
Or when you keep a safe distance but someone decides its a good space to jump in so now you have to slow down to re-adjust.
#11
Not fully stopping at Stop signs.
Upstaged75 3 months ago
I have no idea why, but it the States we call it the California Rolling Stop. Not sure what California has to do with it? 😂
#12
“Oh the speed limit is 65? Better go 85 and then be annoyed at people who are going 75”.
Anne Roberts 3 months ago
I get nervous when I'm going five to ten miles over the speed limit and other cars pass me like I'm standing still.
#13
Texting/looking at phone while driving.
Everyone is against it, but pick any random car and look...odds are good you will see someone doing it, or doing the look up look down thing.
And checking at red-lights counts as texting/driving. The law in my state, and in most other states, doesn't differentiate between the car moving and the car being stationary.
So you a******s doing it at red lights are still breaking the law in addition to not paying attention when it turns green.
Sandy Kavanaugh 3 months ago
If the car is running, you're at the wheel, and not moving, you're still the driver who is driving.
#14
Peeing in public. (Like, in a pinch).
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago
Those who have never peed in the sea/ocean among us, let you be the first to throw a stone at me.
#15
Copyright/IP/TOS. SO many things rely on violating some kind of copyright or IP, or a term of service deep in a contract no one read. Granted, I do it very intentionally, but if YouTube, or the internet in general, had to rely on the word of actual IP law, nothing would exist online but text, and a good portion of that would be illegal.
Example, years ago the internet was full of websites where people wrote out guitar tabs for songs, unofficial, made by some guy online, a bunch of numbers and dashes showing you how to play a copyrighted song on guitar. The RIAA decided that was not legal, now all of the websites that don't pay them money, again to post text documents that are entirely numbers and dashes some guy guessed is the correct way to play a song, shut down.
E: 2-2--2-4-5--5-5-4-2-2 There, I broke the law.
Upstaged75 3 months ago
My father was an intellectual property attorney for over 40 years. For the most part no one is going to sue you if you post a guitar chord on your Facebook page. It's too expensive. But if your company tries to sell an exact replica of a patented medication (as long as the patent is still active) you can expect a $$$ lawsuit. Fun fact: my dad wrote the original patent for Mucinex. 😊
#16
Here in NH, w**d is illegal. Yet everyone smokes, we just go to Massachusetts for our goods lol.
NoRestfortheQWERTY 3 months ago
Fitting, as people from Massachusetts love to visit NH's tax-free state-run liquor stores.
#18
Driving behavior in big cities is often more illegal than legal. Speeding, failing to signal, aggressive driving, failing to yield, phone use/distracted driving... And that's just one traffic light to the next for many drivers!
Upstaged75 3 months ago
If you've ever ridden in a NYC taxi you have experienced all of this. And probably thought you were going to die. 😂
#21
P**n website is forbidden is south korea but we use vpn.
BeesEelsAndPups 3 months ago
P**n is a confusing one for me, legally speaking. In some states, it is legal to hire somebody to have s*x with you on camera to make p**n. But p**********n is illegal.
#22
Dark tinted windows.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
Here in the UK, dark tinted car windows are illegal, the traffic cops carry equipment to measure light transmission, and you can expect to be pulled over if they think you've got illegally tinted windows.
#23
Not giving your true birthday when you verify age on a website. (Eg, just plugging in 01/01/1980.) Violation of federal hacking laws, because you’re given fraudulent information to access a protected computer system.
#24
Jaywalking. At least in the small tourist town I'm from. Drives me up the wall because traffic is always bad during high season and avoiding clueless drivers who aren't from here AND meat-and-skin based obstacles at the same time is hard as hell. Especially when they hide behind cars to jump in front of you outside of a crosswalk. It's like these people go on vacation and decide "I'd like to get ran over and die today."
Rant over thank you for listening.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
Walking on any part of the street is perfectly legal where I live - unless it's a motorway. We have freedom here in the UK. Driver training ensures that we learn how to anticipate hazards such as wayward pedestrians. No-one ever "hides behind a car" to jump out in front of a car - any driver who think that's happened is a poor driver.
#25
A lot of comments here have a skewed view of “almost everyone”. I think speeding is probably the only true answer. (W**d is legal all over the place and also done by a minority of ppl. Most ppl wouldn’t know how to pirate a movie. ).
#26
Insider Trading. Overvaluing assets on loan applications.
#28
Watching p**n when you're under 18.
Beak Hookage 3 months ago (edited)
Which is pretty funny really because the way I remember it teenagers past a certain age are OBSESSED with s-e-x. My classmates sure as hell wouldn't shut up about it.
#29
Have a garage sale and not report the earnings to the IRS for taxes.
Anne Roberts 3 months ago
How much money does the typical garage sale make? A couple of hundred dollars? Plus I already paid taxes when I bought the stuff I'm selling
Rick Murray 3 months ago
There is a bit of a debate about this in France. There should be no requirement to pay tax on stuff sold at garage sales (vide greniers) because tax will have been paid on the original purchase. The current thinking is to have people declare on their honour that they only attend *two* in a year (usually their local and a big one). Yes, it is abused, and often by people (cough) from the east (/cough) which is annoying for all of the rest of us. That being said, vide greniers have largely been a lot of cr@p for a decade or so, as anything worth anything tends to get listed on Le Bon Coin (France's answer to eBay).
Michael Largey 3 months ago
If you sell the Item for less than you bought it (common at garage sales), there is no profit to report. You lost money, and if anything you'd might take a deduction for a capital loss.
Emilu 3 months ago
Hence why you don't need to, eg: report eBay sales unless you operate a business from there (with an ABN or whatever your country's equivalent is).
Carrie de Luka 3 months ago
You might not need to where you live, but in the UK you may need to report what's called 'side hustle' income. That is income that could be money, gifts or services you have received from selling personal possessions.
Load More Replies...
#30
Feeding pigeons. It’s illegal in most places.
#31
To own a pet in USA and Canada (and am sure in other countries) without pet license.
Upstaged75 3 months ago
Nope. Not true. Dogs maybe. You don't need one to own a cat. Or a horse.
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Taffy Renee 3 months ago
Big one for me is someone selling fan artwork of copyrighted characters and claiming "Fair Use" law as the reason for doing it. NO "Fair Use" does NOT allow you to sell fan artwork. The only way you can legally sell fan art is if you have permission from the copyright owner.
Emilu 3 months ago (edited)
Edit: Sorry Taffy, this was meant to be a new comment, not a reply.
Load More Replies...
Emilu 3 months ago
I don't "mind" low level speeding but higher-level, no. Recently, for example, I had a client who was ticketed for going 45km+ over (Clocked at 90 miles or thereabouts, so probably not fast for some people out there, but Australia does have pretty low speed limits. Our max is 110km/h). The client's ('D' for 'dickhead' henceforth) excuse was that the cop couldn't 'prove' that the equipment used to detect D was going 145 was accurate, and the cop also pulled D over at what D believed was around 115-120 and therefore there was sufficient 'doubt' that D was actually speeding. I took great pleasure in telling him that speed detection devices were accurate unless proven otherwise, D'd be looking at around $8k to find an expert to look into if it *could* be proven otherwise, and if he was detected at 145 the speed he was being pulled over, if lower, didn't mean jack. D got the idea when he wanted to "SPEAK TO A *MAN*?" and said senior male criminal lawyer said the same as me. 🤷🏽♀️
Ren Karlej 3 months ago
Even at low speeds though, you can k**l people. There's a reason why in some towns and cities in the UK they're changing limits to 20mph instead of 30mph. You stand a chance of walking away from the former speed. Most car accidents happen on urban roads.
Load More Replies...
Harry Gondalf 3 months ago
Surprised not to find this, although it doesn't apply to "everybody:" the use of recreational chemicāls other than aḷcohol.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
Hey, leave my organic cane sugar out of this! ;)
Load More Replies... Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago (edited)
In many places, taking stones to make cairns is illegal yet I see them everywhere after touristic season. (I destroy them every time because they are harmful to the ecosystem.)
Rachel Reynolds 3 months ago
In Michigan, A husband legally owns his wife's hair. I recently got my hair cut without telling my husband. Lock me up.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
Eff that noise. Your hair is a part of you. End of discussion.
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 3 months ago
" Note: this post originally had 31 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes. " Really?!? REALLY? smh...
Lady Eowyn 3 months ago
A lot of people seem to have a funny idea about how common certain things are.
arthbach 3 months ago
They use the excuse of 'everyone does it' to feel better a out themselves when they break the law.
Load More Replies...
SchadenFreudian Psychology 3 months ago
Some of these are dangerous (a lot of the driving-related ones), but some of them….why did they bother to make a law about it? Like the one about not cleaning up your grass clippings. I can’t believe that would ever make it to a court case.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
I can't help but see the careful guidance of one of those HOA things behind the whinging over grass clippings.
Load More Replies... 
Miracle Max 3 months ago
Another terrible list, with over half the entries being duplicates! Online Piracy was on here FOUR times! Oleksandra, get a clue!
General Anaesthesia 3 months ago
It isn't mentioned here because not "everyone does it".
Load More Replies...
Taffy Renee 3 months ago
Big one for me is someone selling fan artwork of copyrighted characters and claiming "Fair Use" law as the reason for doing it. NO "Fair Use" does NOT allow you to sell fan artwork. The only way you can legally sell fan art is if you have permission from the copyright owner.
Emilu 3 months ago (edited)
Edit: Sorry Taffy, this was meant to be a new comment, not a reply.
Load More Replies... Emilu 3 months ago
I don't "mind" low level speeding but higher-level, no. Recently, for example, I had a client who was ticketed for going 45km+ over (Clocked at 90 miles or thereabouts, so probably not fast for some people out there, but Australia does have pretty low speed limits. Our max is 110km/h). The client's ('D' for 'dickhead' henceforth) excuse was that the cop couldn't 'prove' that the equipment used to detect D was going 145 was accurate, and the cop also pulled D over at what D believed was around 115-120 and therefore there was sufficient 'doubt' that D was actually speeding. I took great pleasure in telling him that speed detection devices were accurate unless proven otherwise, D'd be looking at around $8k to find an expert to look into if it *could* be proven otherwise, and if he was detected at 145 the speed he was being pulled over, if lower, didn't mean jack. D got the idea when he wanted to "SPEAK TO A *MAN*?" and said senior male criminal lawyer said the same as me. 🤷🏽♀️
Ren Karlej 3 months ago
Even at low speeds though, you can k**l people. There's a reason why in some towns and cities in the UK they're changing limits to 20mph instead of 30mph. You stand a chance of walking away from the former speed. Most car accidents happen on urban roads.
Load More Replies... Harry Gondalf 3 months ago
Surprised not to find this, although it doesn't apply to "everybody:" the use of recreational chemicāls other than aḷcohol.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
Hey, leave my organic cane sugar out of this! ;)
Load More Replies... Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago (edited)
In many places, taking stones to make cairns is illegal yet I see them everywhere after touristic season. (I destroy them every time because they are harmful to the ecosystem.)
Rachel Reynolds 3 months ago
In Michigan, A husband legally owns his wife's hair. I recently got my hair cut without telling my husband. Lock me up.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
Eff that noise. Your hair is a part of you. End of discussion.
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 3 months ago
" Note: this post originally had 31 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes. " Really?!? REALLY? smh...
Lady Eowyn 3 months ago
A lot of people seem to have a funny idea about how common certain things are.
arthbach 3 months ago
They use the excuse of 'everyone does it' to feel better a out themselves when they break the law.
Load More Replies... SchadenFreudian Psychology 3 months ago
Some of these are dangerous (a lot of the driving-related ones), but some of them….why did they bother to make a law about it? Like the one about not cleaning up your grass clippings. I can’t believe that would ever make it to a court case.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
I can't help but see the careful guidance of one of those HOA things behind the whinging over grass clippings.
Load More Replies... Miracle Max 3 months ago
Another terrible list, with over half the entries being duplicates! Online Piracy was on here FOUR times! Oleksandra, get a clue!
General Anaesthesia 3 months ago
It isn't mentioned here because not "everyone does it".
Load More Replies...
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