# Do you have car rules? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430 "2012-02-01T16:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/1 "2012-02-01T16:21:44Z")
I’m not going to try a poll because Yes/No is boring and there’s no way I could imagine all the rules people might have, so just share, please. Do you have rules when people are in your car, and what are they? We just bought a new car - a Hyundai Sonata - and we agreed there would be a _no-eating-in-the-car_ rule. Drinks are OK, since it’s almost always a soda in a capped cup with a straw. But food opens you up to crumbs, grease, smears, upholstery stains, and ancient french fries under the seat. This was spawned by the memory of the first time my husband drove my then-new car and dripped frosting on the seat between his legs - in MY new car!!! :eek: Another rule, but I doubt that it’ll come up, is no smoking. The few folks we know who do smoke are very courteous about keeping outside and away from the rest of us. When we were kids - there were 5 of us crammed into a big ol’ station wagon - our parents had rules about who got the window seats and who got the hump. I don’t remember them now, but they were vital 50 years ago! 😃 What are your vehicular “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” requirements? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/2 "2012-02-01T16:34:09Z")
Well, the no smoking thing is a no-brainer in today’s society; no one would even dream of doing it. Apart from that, I got nothin’. Well, seat belts are a requirement, but that also is a no-brainer today. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/3 "2012-02-01T16:37:02Z")
Put your seatbelt on, boy. I don’t ride with anybody 'less they wear their seatbelt. It’s one of my rules. No smoking. Don’t touch the stereo. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/4 "2012-02-01T16:42:05Z")
Seatbelts are mandatory in my car, too. Eating’s okay, but the junk comes out with you - my car is not a garbage can. Stereo is driver’s choice. Grab my steering wheel and lose a hand - there’s only ONE driver in this car! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/5 "2012-02-01T16:42:42Z")
1. I do the driving. Blackjack says he knows how to drive, but I think he’s lying. Maybe an automatic, but he definitely can’t drive a stick. I don’t believe he caught a mailtruck either. 2. Shut up while I’m driving ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/6 "2012-02-01T16:45:19Z")
You reminded me of another one, **TriPolar** - I’ll chat while driving, but I might stop talking and focus on my driving at any time - it’s not personal. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/7 "2012-02-01T16:48:04Z")
No eating, except for me. The rule really applies only to my kids, because they’re less concerned about dropping their snacks on the seats, which they then forget about and weeks later I’m cleaning off the leather after scraping something sticky off of it after it got wedged in the crack. Back in the days of their sippy cups and Cheerios and raisins, my wife’s car took on the smell of a wet dog (we don’t have a dog), and it persists to this day. So no eating. Other than that, jump right in, the water’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/8 "2012-02-01T16:48:34Z")
I have no-smoking. But I have a large dog, and any other rules are pretty much a drop in the ocean of the smell and mess he makes in the car. There’s not much point having them. It’s a dogmobile, and it looks and smells like one. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/9 "2012-02-01T16:49:35Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Grab my steering wheel and lose a hand - there’s only ONE driver in this car! Wow. That’s never happened to me. I can only assume it’s an attempt at suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/10 "2012-02-01T16:51:53Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Wow. That’s never happened to me. I can only assume it’s an attempt at suicide. Usually it’s a request: “Can you take the wheel while I open my beer?” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/11 "2012-02-01T16:55:36Z")
Buckle up. The more you complain about the song on the radio, the more I’ll turn up the volume. You may not touch your sister for any reason whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/12 "2012-02-01T16:58:16Z")
I do not put the car into gear before you put on your seatbelt. If my nieces can do it, so can you. Music is the driver’s choice. Generally, I try to meet you halfway but really you can deal with something that is not your first choice for the duration of the ride. We can talk the entire ride if you want but I will never make eye contact so don’t get pissy about it. All of the no-smoking people are kind of surprising. As a non-smoker, not a single one of my friends has ever even asked to light up in the car. Other than that, just don’t make a mess. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/13 "2012-02-01T17:04:11Z")
They aren’t posted or anything, but mostly just the obvious stuff like no smoking. I wouldn’t even care so much about seat belts if my car didn’t “BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” for 5 minutes when the passenger isn’t buckled in. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/14 "2012-02-01T17:05:17Z")
nope, just have fun going places. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/15 "2012-02-01T17:09:17Z")
i do keep a tape measure in the car. seat belt use is required by law. driver only drives. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/16 "2012-02-01T17:11:09Z")
Seatbelts required. Smoking prohibited: years ago a guy refused to ride a mile with me because I wouldn’t let him smoke in the car :rolleyes:. When my wife starts kibitzing about what I’m doing, I tell her: If you want to drive, get in the back seat. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/17 "2012-02-01T17:13:22Z")
My husband used to have a bad habit of leaving crap in my car. Like newspapers; he would read the paper while I was driving and then toss it in the back, and when we got out, it was as if it had never existed. Or fast-food bags on long trips. My car isn’t a model of cleanliness, but when you stop for gas or the next time you stop for food, you throw out the crap that has accumulated since last time. He has acceded to my wishes. His car is his own business. My car radio does not play certain “artists.” There’s just something wrong with the reception. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/18 "2012-02-01T17:14:54Z")
If you are driving my Jeep you MUST do the “Jeep Wave.” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/19 "2012-02-01T17:21:03Z")
No smoking. Wear seatbelts. I get to pick the music. Nobody drives my car but me and the spouse. The no-eating rule is situational, and depends on the potential messiness of the eater. For example, the spouse is allowed to eat in my car because he’s quite fastidious about it. My mom wasn’t, because she wasn’t. This one is for the spouse only, since we have different levels of clutter tolerance: Complaining about clutter in my car is not permitted. You keep yours the way you like, and I’ll keep mine the way I like. You want to take my car, you put up with my mess (which isn’t actually all that bad, but he’s a major neat-nut and hates to have anything extraneous in his car.) Oh, one more (this one’s mostly for the spouse too): Never, ever throw away _anything_ in my car, even if it looks like trash (unless it’s clearly obvious trash, like a McDonald’s wrapper or something). Always ask first. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430/20 "2012-02-01T17:31:38Z")
The copilot is in charge of temp control and of music. This includes paying attention to other people’s opinions, and ensuring that we don’t get stuck with the same tape (what?) for 6 hours. It’s derived from the system my parents came up with when we first got a car with a sound system. I didn’t realize how important and useful it was until I first found myself in a car in which the rule was “the owner is in charge of the music”. Dad bought a 24-tape box. We defined two groups, “parents” and “children” (I think I was 11, I’d noticed that Elvis’ movies had horrible stories and good music but that was about as far as I’d gotten in “getting my own musical taste”). Each group could select up to 12 tapes before a trip, and I was in charge of ensuring that we cycled to them (1 parents, 1 us, 1 parents, 1 us…), taking the last tape from Mom and handing her the next one. Eventually it became 3 groups, later 4, but the basic system to make sure that we all got to hear music we liked and nobody had to put up with 3 rounds of In the Mood (Smurfs version), survived all the way into our adulthoods. If you talk to the driver while the driver is parking/pulling out, the driver has the God-given right to curse you into the next century. Any car I’m driving does not move until everybody is wearing a seatbelt (or properly sat in a baby chair). It’s both a legal requirement and a “I’m the one with the keys” requirement. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-car-rules/611430.md?page=2)