These mistakes might seem obvious — if you’re from here. But do you know what happens if you do these things?
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A user on the social media site Reddit recently started a wide-ranging conversation with the question, “In the United States, what should you never do?”
The discussion thread received more than 12,000 comments, including advice helpful for U.S. visitors, and even more users rated it as an interesting conversation.
Following are some answers even folks living in America might find interesting — along with context and official sources the original users generally did not supply.
In general, flying a drone in controlled airspace — such as anywhere near an airport — requires official approval through a process called Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC). That process is in place for more than 700 U.S. airports, but Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is not one of them.
“The airspace around Washington, D.C., is more restricted than in any other part of the country,” and has been since the 9/11 attacks, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Without special permission, you’re not allowed to fly anywhere within 15 miles of the airport — a radius that covers the entirety of the nation’s capital.
Violators could face “arrest, a $300 fine, and/or 90 days imprisonment and may also face additional federal civil and criminal penalties,” according to U.S. Capitol Police.
Opening mail that belongs to anyone else could be considered one of a few different federal crimes, including:
Fortunately, accidentally opening someone’s mail does not count, according to the Chicago-based Law Offices of Hal M. Garfinkel.
It may not be illegal to exit your vehicle when you get pulled over, but the wisest thing to do is sit tight and await instructions from the police, which may or may not include getting out of the car.
The American Civil Liberties Union recommends doing the following when an officer signals you to pull over:
These steps should help reassure police that you are not a threat or likely to flee, which should make for a safer and smoother experience.
You may have heard — or seen depicted on TV — stories about people who spend their way out of a thorny situation with the police. But since the general purpose of a bribe is to pretend something didn’t happen, it’s hard to evaluate how often they actually occur.
Regardless, this was the most popular answer in the Reddit thread:
“Don’t try to bribe cops when you get pulled over. I had some Argentinian friends immediately pull out their wallets and start pooling their cash when they got pulled over once. Fortunately someone in the car noticed and told them to put it away immediately.”
Other users claimed at least secondhand knowledge that it works in Mexico, India and even the U.S. territory of Guam.
One group that has tried to measure bribery is the nonprofit Transparency International, which claims to run “the world’s largest survey asking citizens about their direct personal experience of bribery in their daily lives, their perceptions of corruption challenges in their own countries, and their willingness to act against corruption.”
Its most recent survey, from 2017, found that 1 in 4 people across the world had paid a bribe in the prior year while interacting with a public service. The countries where bribes were most commonly reported were Yemen, India, Liberia, Mexico and Vietnam. However, “bribery questions were not asked in Belgium, France, Greenland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA due to funding constraints.”
Fortunately, no funding is required to find out bribery is illegal in every U.S. jurisdiction. “Bribery is a felony in every state and under federal law,” according to Columbia Law School, which researches anti-corruption laws across the U.S.
One user offered the oddly specific but popular answer, “Under no circumstances should you say: ‘I’m going to shoot the president of the United States.’ Especially not on TV.”
The top reply to that comment was a “former news cameraman” who agreed it was a bad idea to say you’re going to shoot anyone, even when you mean “shoot video footage of” them.
Federal law does spell out “Threats against President and successors to the Presidency,” when made in writing, as a specific crime punishable by a fine or up to five years in prison.
In general, “interstate communications” that threaten the kidnapping or injury of anyone can be punished by up to 20 years in prison under federal law, to say nothing of state laws.
Disclosure: The information you read here is always objective. However, we sometimes receive compensation when you click links within our stories.
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