Car sales outlawed in Michigan on Sundays?

A motoring forum I am a part of has stated [[in its list of bizarre or ridiculous motoring laws from state to state) that car sales cannot be conducted in Michigan on Sundays.

Does this sound right to you?

I can't imagine it being policed successfully, if at all, especially in relation to private sales outside of the dealerships.

For those who take their road rules seriously, here is the full list of bizarro-rules... with the cranky forum moderator's response to each road rule in brackets:


STUPID US ROAD RULES

Alabama - You cannot drive around impersonating a clergy member. [[Who would want to impersonate a paedophile anyway?)

Alaska - You cannot tie your pet dog to the roof of your car. [[Hell, I always wanted to do this... LOL)

Arizona - Pedestrians are banned from pressing crosswalk buttons just to stop traffic. [[Those buttons don't work anyway)

Arkansas - You cannot start and stop your car loudly in a drive-in restaurant. [[How do you stop a car loudly?)

California - You can get a ticket for driving too slowly. [[Break the limit and you get booked. Don't break the limit and get booked)

Colorado - It is illegal to throw missiles at cars. [[Actually that's quite reasonable unless it's a Hellfire)

Connecticut - You cannot hunt from the highway. [[Unless a moose is blocking your path)

Delaware - You cannot change clothes inside your vehicle. [[Why not? I do it all the time)

Florida - You cannot park in the middle of an intersection. [[Cops do this often - book'em, Danno)

Georgia - You cannot honk at a fair. [[Depends what you are honking. LOL)

Hawaii - All passengers must wear a seat belt, but riding in the back of a pickup truck untethered is legal. [[Destined for death)

Idaho - You can't ride a bike onto a tennis court. [[Some imbecile with nothing better to do thought this one up)

Illinois - You cannot drive with hanging dice or air fresheners. [[Ah those stinky Illinoisians)

Indiana - You may not enter or exit a car in motion. [[What if the car is just rocking up and down?)

Iowa - You cannot use a deceased person's handicap sign. [[Unless the deceased person is in the car)

Kansas - You cannot screech your tyres while driving. [[Those folk from Kansas must be a wild bunch)

Kentucky - Dogs are prohibited from molesting cars. [[Tell that to a dog while he's pissing on your wheel)

Louisiana - Taxi drivers are not permitted to make love in the front seat during a shift. [[Masturbation is OK though)

Maine - It is illegal to park in front of Dunkin' Donuts. [[Those spots are reserved for cops getting donuts for free)

Maryland - It is illegal to swear on the highway. [[Fucking hell, I would never have thought)

Masssachusetts - It is illegal to drive with a gorilla. [[I'll make sure I never get into a car driven by a gorilla)

Michigan - No cars can be sold on a Sunday. [[Why not? Will some Skyspook strike them down?)

Minnesota - Driving a truck with dirty tyres is a public nuisance. [[Tyres get dirty the second that the truck drives on them)

Mississippi - It is illegal to have a flamethrower attached to your car. [[Yeah, I always wanted to do this)

New Jersey - You must honk before passing a skateboarder. [[What's wrong with just running skateboarders down?)

New Mexico - It is illegal for women to pump their own gasoline. [[The suffragettes didn't get to that state yet)

New York - It is illegal to disrobe in a car. [[What a problem - so many naked drivers and passengers)

North Carolina - It is illegal to drive through cemeteries just for fun. [[So are the dead going to object?)

North Dakota - If your car is in a parade, you are not allowed to throw candy from it. [[Somebody really worked hard on this law)

Ohio - You cannot drive Powerwheels on the road. [[What the hell is a Powerwheel anyway?)

Oklahoma - No reading comic books while driving. [[But you can read War and Peace while driving)

Oregon - You cannot footrace a car. [[Unless it's a Lightburn Zeta, then you'd win)

Pennsylvania - You have to dismantle your car and hide it from horses if they appear scared of it. [[I always carry spanners for this)

Rhode Island - You cannot ride with an unopened beer. [[So open the beer and take a few slugs from the bottle)

South Carolina - It is illegal to store trash in your vehicle. [[What about white trash, like a slut from the projects?)

South Dakota - There is no minimum age for driving a motorcycle off-road. [[That's sensible - it's nobody's business)

Tennessee - It is illegal to place tacks on the highway. [[What about whopping great road spikes to disable cop cars?)

Texas - No windshield required for inspection, just wipers. [[Ah yes those clever Texans don't need windscreens anyway)

Utah - Birds have the right of way on the highway. [[Shit! all that roadkill should have been allowed to cross the road)

Vermont - Billboards are illegal. [[I like this idea. I get distracted by billboards featuring huge tits on nice chicks)

Virginia - You cannot allow anyone to have sex in your car. [[There goes the end of teenage romance)

Washington State - Legislators can't get speeding tickets during legislation sessions. [[Typical weaselling politicians)

West Virginia - If you drive by roadkill, you can take it home for supper. [[I always love to cook up squashed racoon for dinner)

Wisconsin - You cannot sit in another person's car without their permission. [[But you can give them a blowjob through the window)

Michigan's ban on auto sales is one of the last vestiges of Blue Laws here.

In the early 2000's a law was passed to exempt motorcycle and powersports stores from the prohibition. I worked at a cycle dealer then and IIRC the state started to force the issue of Sunday closure.

It was probably overturned on the basis of them being recreational vehicles and lobbying by both dealers and manufacturers to exempt them.

Automobiles and trucks are still prohibited, I'm surprised that MADA and or the NADA has not taken that fight up. Good thing for the dealership workers they have not. I'll leave it at that.

This one was quite stirring:

Iowa - You cannot use a deceased person's handicap sign. [[Unless the deceased person is in the car)

I remember growing up you would be hard pressed to even find a gas station open on Sundays.

The city of Kissimmee Fl keeps the no spitting on the sidewalk law on the books that was put there 100 years ago because of chewing tobacco because it is handy if one sees a shady character spitting it give them an excuse to check ID.

Minnesota - Driving a truck with dirty tyres is a public nuisance. [[Tyres get dirty the second that the truck drives on them)

A bit of a Brit commentator,tyres

Because big tires have rocks stuck in them and when they get on the highway after 4 wheeling at 60 mph those rocks break windshields.

West Virginia - If you drive by roadkill, you can take it home for supper. [[I always love to cook up squashed racoon for dinner)

In Alaska moose/deer roadkill is immediately harvested and the meat is supplied to the local food shelters.

Mississippi - It is illegal to have a flamethrower attached to your car. [[Yeah, I always wanted to do this)

It is Mississippi bet ya somebody tried doing it.

It is in pun but a lot of them still make sense.

Ha - Law makers at work for the common good.

I couldn't get a salesman out on the lot on a Tuesday or a Friday or whatever.

If it was drizzling, they would stand inside the showroom with a cup of coffee and just watch me. Their $35,000 loss. More than pissed !

Then they cry about how bad business is.

I still can’t wrap my brain around the American automobile company with the largest market cap out of all of them NOT being allowed to sell cars in Michigan because their business model is different than the big 2s.

Those morons in Lansing are ignoring that all kinds of companies in this state supply every conceivable service and parts for auto manufacturing and the company they have locked out has the deepest pockets and the most glaringly obvious need to ramp up production drastically and in a short time frame.

Why not just fly to California and spit in the man’s face and tell him that Michigan never wants a dime of business from his 10s of billions family of companies across a vast diverse portfolio? Because that is the message they are sending anyway...

You couldn’t dream up the stupid crap the idiots in Lansing do to handcuff this state and send it back 50 years at any chance they can get. They work too hard at figuring out how to isolate us from the money, business and jobs that the rest of the country has. It’s like they would get jealous if anyone made a buck in anything other then arguing law in this state.

This law is thanks to Henry Ford. He wanted a day were everyone involved with the industry could go to church.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by p69rrh51

This law is thanks to Henry Ford. He wanted a day were everyone involved with the industry could go to church.

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If it came from Henry Ford, maybe we should leave it in place, since he had been dead 6 years when it was enacted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bigb23

Ha - Law makers at work for the common good.

I couldn't get a salesman out on the lot on a Tuesday or a Friday or whatever.

If it was drizzling, they would stand inside the showroom with a cup of coffee and just watch me. Their $35,000 loss. More than pissed !

Then they cry about how bad business is.

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The one I had pointed to the used car section from inside the showroom, told me to check back everyday because they had cars always coming in, and proceeded to go back to watching the Red Wings game that was on in service dept waiting room.

It used to be Detroit area dealerships didn’t sell cars on Saturday or Sunday but I thought it was a Detroit Auto Dealer Association thing, not an actual law. Same with the policy of all dealers staying open until 9:00 PM on Mondays and Thursdays.

A few years ago, [[mid 1980s) I worked for a company that made training videos for GM. We were shooting a video on a Saturday morning in a Chevrolet dealership when someone called the dealership and started making threats. The dealership was closed but they saw people in the showroom and thought the dealership was open and selling cars on Saturday.

I was told years ago that there was two reasons that car dealerships were closed on Saturday and Sunday. The first was that the salespeople want the weekend off. Second and main reason, the dealerships did not want to give the average working person, who worked normal business hours during the week, time to shop around for better deals thus preventing price wars among the dealers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pat001

It used to be Detroit area dealerships didn’t sell cars on Saturday or Sunday but I thought it was a Detroit Auto Dealer Association thing, not an actual law. Same with the policy of all dealers staying open until 9:00 PM on Mondays and Thursdays.

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Sale of Motor Vehicles on Sunday
PA 66 of 1953
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-Act-66-of-1953

I was surprise to see the act exempts counties with populations under 130k.