Driving Offences You Didn't Know Were Illegal

You know how it is. When you’re starting to drive for the first time you learn all the rules of the road for the Theory test, but then the years go by, bad habits creep in.

There’s no excuse for breaking the law on the road of course, and the rules are there to keep us all safe, but that doesn’t mean we necessarily all know ALL of them.

If you don’t know something that you’re doing is illegal, you’re running the risk of being caught doing it and receiving a fine and points on your licence, so we’ve found five driving offences that you might not know were actually offences:

Flashing your lights to give way to another driver

You’ve pulled up to a junction that doesn’t have traffic lights. There’s a car on the other side that’s waiting to see if you’re going to go or give way to them.

You flash your lights briefly to let them know that they can go. Simple, good British fair play, right?

Wrong. It’s technically against the law.

According to the rules, you should only flash your lights to warn another driver that you’re there, which doesn’t apply in the situation above and if an accident resulted from your action, you could get in trouble.

Parking on the wrong side of the road at night

Pulling up on the wrong side of the road to park at night time means risking dazzling oncoming cars with your headlights while you are parking and pulling away, while your rear light reflectors won’t be visible either.

Doing this can get you a Penalty Charge Notice. Issued for parking violations by local authorities, a PCN is a fine that comes in the form of a yellow notice usually slapped on your windscreen but unlike a Fixed Penalty Charge, you won’t get points on your licence and the fee is reduced if you pay within 14 days.

Using your phone as a sat nav without having it in a fixed position

You’re going to a job interview at a new company. You don’t want to get lost so you use Google Maps on your phone, which you place on the seat next to you or loose on the dashboard.

This is illegal, because it means you have to hold it in your hand at times to check it, which is dangerous, so if you do this, it could mean a £200 fine and six points, while a new driver (who has driven for less than two years) could get banned.

Drenching a pedestrian with water

We’ve all watched this happen to some poor soul and seen the funny side, but if you are the driver responsible for soaking a pedestrian with puddle water, you could be on the receiving end of a hefty fine. That’s because it’s classed as driving without due care or attention.

If you are found guilty of this offence, you could receive a whopping nine points on your licence and a £5000 fine.

Doesn’t seem so comical now does it?

Overtaking at a pedestrian crossing

It’s essential to drive with care around pedestrian crossings of course, and this includes not overtaking a stopped car when you’re approaching one.

This is because you can’t be sure that there isn’t a pedestrian in front of that car where you can’t see them, so be patient and let the other car pull away.