# Which law is most commonly flouted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485 "2022-08-28T21:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/42 "2022-08-29T03:31:43Z")
Those are called “rockets” in Canada and are essentially only a thing at Hallowe’en. Smarties are British M&Ms without the monogram or varied fillings. The shape is flatter and the shell colours different. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/43 "2022-08-29T03:37:12Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Those are called “rockets” in Canada and are essentially only a thing at Hallowe’en. If you got them, you toilet papered that house. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/44 "2022-08-29T03:38:52Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > At one time I would have said pot laws, but with it legal pretty much everywhere now (in the USA), I’d probably go with video piracy. While I totally agree about the pot laws which I have been breaking every day for all my life and am breaking as I type (with the exception of the three years I was stationed in Okinawa) I have never once pirated a video. Now that I’m sticking it to Big Oil by driving the speed limit all the time (yes, I have been pretty surprised by how much I’m saving) I will say that more people speed in residential areas than on the highways. It always surprises me how folks who followed me at the speed limit for 20 miles on the highway suddenly want to pass me when I’m doing the speed limit on their own street. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/45 "2022-08-29T03:39:30Z")
I 'd also like to add, this was ages ago (pre internet), and I had an address on my license that indicated that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to visit the judge on or before the indicated date. In similar circumstances a generation before, my mom was pulled in front of a judge then and there, and expected to pay the fine or go to jail when she was pulled over for speeding outside of her home state. She had the cash, but it must have sucked to pay it for that immediately, or cool your heels until you sat it off. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/46 "2022-08-29T03:46:29Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > At one time I would have said pot laws, but with it legal pretty much everywhere now (in the USA), I’d probably go with video piracy. I would guess there’s close to \>100 times more speeding violations than pot violations and like 1,000 times more than video piracy. Depending on what you count as a speeding violation I’ve sped tens of thousands of times in my life and done the other two in the single digits. And while I am a faster than normal driver the vast vast majority of people I see on the road are speeding, both on the highway and local roads. It wouldn’t surprise me if speeding violations are more than all others combined unless there’s some technicality like a DDOS is millions of violations. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/47 "2022-08-29T04:00:49Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > OK, so what Canadians call Smarties sounds a lot like USian M&Ms. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Smarties are British M&Ms Yup, Smarties originated in Britain in 1937 - they were the original. > **[Smarties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties)** > > Smarties are color-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery. They have been manufactured since 1937, originally by H.I. Rowntree & Company in the United Kingdom, and now by Nestlé. > Smarties are oblate spheroids with a minor axis of about 5 mm (0.2 in) and a major axis of about 12 mm (0.5 in). They come in eight colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, mauve, pink and brown, although the blue variety was temporarily replaced by a white variety in some countries, whilst an alternati... M&M’s first came to market in the U.S. four years later, copied from British Smarties. > **[M&M's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%26M%27s)** > > M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are color-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M's. The original candy has a semi-sweet chocolate filling which, upon introduction of other variations, was branded as the "plain, normal" variety. Peanut M&M's, which feature a peanut coated in milk chocolate, and finally a candy shell,... > [Forrest Mars Sr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Mars_Sr.), son of the Mars Company founder, Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the [Spanish Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War) when he saw [soldiers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier) eating British-made [Smarties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/48 "2022-08-29T04:22:07Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Putting ketchup on a hot dog is a moral law in some cities. Failure to observe proper Smarties protocol is a law of etiquette. But sure, not really illegal. Fortunately, I was extremely serious when I proposed these things. Probably breaking some law of grammar then. Like starting a sentence with a conjunction like and or but. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/49 "2022-08-29T04:22:38Z")
The chocolate is better in the Smarties. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/50 "2022-08-29T08:49:25Z")
Averages. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/51 "2022-08-29T10:15:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Ketchup on a hot dog is fine… if you are a kid Hot dogs ARE kid’s food. That’s why eating them with ketchup is fine: if you’re going to be a kid, be a kid. Don’t pretend your packaged cow anuses are _haute cuisine._ ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/52 "2022-08-29T14:36:27Z")
It’s a lot better. But it is not as good as it was before Nestles (turn, spit) bought the original company ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/53 "2022-08-29T14:42:26Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Depends on jurisdiction. In Seattle they ticket it, and almost no one does it. Or at least it was that way when I lived in the city. In the UK it isn’t even an offense. You just have to use your own judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/54 "2022-08-29T14:45:49Z")
Forrest Mars fought in the Spanish Civil War? There is something a little odd about this story. Brits who fought in Spain in 1936-9 were not regular British soldiers but volunteers who were, let us say, “discouraged,” from going to Spain by the British government. Mars would have been hard-pressed to spot such volunteers, let alone scope out their chocolate preferences. I can believe Mars saw regular British soldiers eating Smarties in England at the time of the Spanish Civil War, but the reference to the war itself is odd. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/55 "2022-08-29T15:42:32Z")
The only thing worse were those tasteless hunks of molasses wrapped in orange and black paper covered in cats and witches ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/56 "2022-08-29T15:44:14Z")
I’ve always liked those (the USA Smarties, not the orange/black monstrosities - although I remember those as being vaguely peanut buttery). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/57 "2022-08-29T15:57:33Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > the orange/black monstrosities - although I remember those as being vaguely peanut buttery Me too. And they were perfectly good _if_ they were fresh enough, but sometimes you got some that were hard and stale. USA Smarties, too, were perfectly good to eat—hardly top tier candy, but better than nothing. This thread has really gone off on a tangent, hasn’t it? Oh well, it’s sort of the OP’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/58 "2022-08-29T18:28:59Z")
Yeah… those things are in the “there oughta be a law against giving out” tangent… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/59 "2022-08-29T21:47:03Z")
I’d say speeding, but in the last few years in our city impeding traffic by driving too slowly has got to be a close second. I don’t know what changed, but our freeways are often full of people going 20 km/h under the speed limit, and it’s common in the city to get stuck behind someone going 40 in a 60 zone. They never get ticketed. It’s not even uncommon to find people going 60 on a 100 kmh freeway, with a giant line of traffic behind them. In regular cars, not dump trucks or tractor trailer rigs. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/60 "2022-08-30T01:59:33Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, it was a state trooper who wrote the ticket. As far as I understand it, in rural jurisdictions in TX, you’ve got to at least go talk to the judge or their clerk on or before the day noted on the ticket. This particular building didn’t seem to have a clerk, and everyone got to talk to the judge directly. Yes, he made me feel dumb for wasting his time with such a petty offense. My wife got pulled over and ticketed in a pissant, podunk Texas town that I won’t name for doing _three_ miles an hour over the speed limit. These tiny towns know perfectly well that someone driving from say Dallas to Amarillo on business isn’t going to return to Chillicothe (population 700) for a court date. However, the Legislature’s cut back on the incentives for these kinds of traps over the years, limiting how much of a town’s revenues can come from speeding tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485/61 "2022-08-30T09:14:20Z")
I got somewhere in my filing cabinet a letter from Luxembourg demanding I pay a $40 fine for going 1 kilometer over the speed limit because I got caught on video by a speed trap camera apparently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-law-is-most-commonly-flouted/970485.md?page=4)