Unless your only car is a BAC Mono, you’ll probably be driving around passengers at some point. After all, cars get greener when multiple people are onboard, splitting gas costs is a great way to make road trips cheaper, and hitching a ride is way nicer than putting up with North America’s lackluster public transit system. However, as every passenger knows, everyone’s car has specific rules, and you probably have a list for yours. Hell, I certainly have a list for mine.
Admittedly, passenger rules evolve depending on the car you’re driving. It’s easy to eat in a beater, but beaters might have rules like “don’t touch the window switch” or “don’t worry about that vibration” because of how stuff ends up broken during the perpetual cycle of neglect that eventually puts a car’s value down below $2,000. Likewise, it’s easy to be obsessive over new cars, but everyone has a different level of tolerance.
It should go without saying that many rules exist because something bad happened in the past, so most of the rules in my cars are based around safety or preventing problems. I’d like to think my list is short, but it could also make me sound terrible, so you be the judge.
- I choose the music
- No food because I hate crumbs
- If anyone needs a drink, I’m pulling over, because water takes ages to dry out of carpet underpadding
- No closing of doors with frameless windows by placing fingers on the glass
- Luggage must be secured for safety reasons
- No smoking
- No feet on the dashboard
- Everyone must be buckled in
- Don’t be a twat
Most of those rules are probably fairly reasonable and normal, but then again, who am I to assume what is normal, when I could just ask our wonderful readers? So, what rules do you have in your car?
(Photo credits: Toyota)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
What Would You Stuff Dodge’s 1,025 Horsepower Demon 170 Crate Motor Into?
-
What Is Every Automaker’s Best Vehicle?
-
What’s A Car You Thought Looked Ugly But Now You Like?
-
Would You Buy Your First Car Back?
-
What Car Has Been Forever Ruined For You And Why?
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
I’ve known more than one person who (when sitting shotgun) crosses their legs where their foot is on top of their knee, like lots of people do when not in a vehicle.
Problem is, I’ve had someone do that repeatedly in the past that ended up scuffing the dash with their fucking shoe.
“that’ll buff out”
“no it won’t”
Other than that, I dunno, just don’t smoke in my car, and if you eat in my car make sure you don’t make a mess and be a normal considerate person?
I don’t care if people move my seats, mirrors, presets, drive the vehicle hard, etc..at the end of the day, it’s a car.
My car doesn’t move until everyone is buckled up.
Don’t touch my radio unless your playlist is better than mine.
Don’t sing along to the songs on the radio.
You brought the garbage, you take it with you.
No, you can’t suntan your feet on my dashboard.
People who put their feet on the dash of a car… come on. It’s SOOO disrespectful, always leaves some kind of mark on the dash, and very unsafe.
Don’t sing along? What’s the point of a road trip if I can’t belt out my favorite songs at the top of my lungs? People sound better in the car, that’s scientifically proven! 😉
WAY to many people think THEY can carry a tune. I would rather listen to the song than some off pitch person that also doesn’t know the lyrics LOL
For my daily.
Act like an adult.
Don’t put your feet up on the dash (it’s not a footrest).
My car has seatbelts so wear one.
The door latches without treating it like a shed so don’t slam it.
My car is a no-smoking zone so light up outside the car if you must.
I have final say when it comes to music, but suggestions are allowed.
Most importantly, don’t treat my car like a trashcan or a napkin. I’ve got a trashcan up front and have napkins in the center console so the interior better be as clean as when you got in.
For my truck.
All of the above, but music isn’t allowed as the radio doesn’t work and I have no control over temperature in the summer as the AC is discharged and has a bad leak.
Thou shalt wear thy seat belt.
1.) The grab handle on the door is a good place to hold onto and if you need another grab the bottom of the seat.
(On a closed circuit and car experiences high cornering speeds)
Mine are simple:
1) No smoking or vaping.
2) No feet on the dashboard or console.
3) No messy foods.
4) The door pockets and cup holders are not trash cans – you brought garbage in, you take garbage out.
For my 1968 4-4-2:
For my 1980 Triumph Spitfire:
For my 1991 Ford Thunderbird SC
1. Smokers, please step outside
2. Nothing sticky for snacks
3. Rear windows cannot be opened unless an equal number of front windows are open due to pressure pulsations
4. If you’re under the age of 12, I will open the door for you.
5. Driver has final say in music
Number 3 is a good rule. If someone in the back opens a window, I always just instinctively open all 4 because I cannot take the pressure pulse.
“Buckle up kids, Slayer and Meshuggah will be playing constantly and there is nothing you can do about it, except jumping out of the car at 80 mph.”
In essence, don’t touch my fucking radio!
The Bee Gees are right before Cannibal Corpse on my phone. Be ready for sudden shifts from the stereo.
My college roommate’s rules:
When he is driving he controls the temperature, because the driver needs the most favorable conditions for maximum alertness.
When he is a passenger he should control the temperature because he is a guest and the driver/host (me) should want him to be comfortable.
Let’s see…
Everyone buckles up because I like to drive fast and I don’t need anyone rattling around back there.
I also have frameless windows. Close the door with the exterior handle.
The driver chooses the music. Unless it’s mumble rap or some awful Auto-Tune monstrosity which in that case, you walk. And if “Gimme Shelter” is played, you have to try to hit the high notes.
Democracy rules in the car when it comes to food. However all decisions need to be made by the time the exit has been reached. If not, driver’s choice.
Seatbelts. I don’t care who you are, my car doesn’t move until everybody has their seatbelt on. I don’t want to die in a crash because your unrestrained ass pushed my seat off its rails and the airbag broke my neck.
I’m pretty flexible beyond that. I’ll take music requests as long as you don’t want something I actively despise like whiny breakup songs or nu metal. On long drives, however, the front passenger is obligated to have a conversation if I need a relief from the boredom of the interstate. My brother tried to fall asleep on me during a drive from Michigan to Chicago, and every now and then I woke him up by changing lanes abruptly.
I did that too – sleep too much when I’m getting tired, “I swerved to miss that deer!!!” 🙂
I would use that one on my wife.
I almost forgot to add this for my kid: You’re not tall enough to sit up front yet. Sorry. Yeah, I know, your friends are already sitting up front. It’s not my fault that you seek out Amazons as friends.
Seatbelts: It was the 90’s and I had two ladies in my SHO, one in front and one in the back seat. I decided to show off the suspension by doing some slalom in an empty parking lot. Was surprised to see arms and legs flailing in my rearview mirror! The woman in back doesn’t wear seatbelts. I couldn’t even imagine that someone in their late 20’s wouldn’t wear a seatbelt in the 1990’s!!!
Did learning occur? Or did she continue to tempt fate?
No. She decided that if she bought a wire pyramid and performed some daily rituals to align her Chachras, then she’d live a few years longer at the end of her life. I don’t think she understood that this means nothing when a simple fender-bender could take her out at any moment. *sigh*
Chakras vs force vectors during a collision… Seatbelts help keep your body aligned… (mostly, and a hell of a lot better than any single other thing) does that count? [End rhetorical rant at your one-time passenger.] Sadly, some folks can’t be reached.
Clean up your mess and keep backpacks from rubbing on the pristine dashboard.
Since I travel with cleaning products and and use plastic bags for trash, it is easy.
I also obsess over clean, I usually have a car vacuum and wipes for more than day trips.
1) No smoking.
2) Everyone is belted.
3) No pets on the driver’s lap.
4) No feet on the dash, out the window, or on my console.
5) If you shove the floor mats out of place, put them back.
I’m generally ignored on 3 and 5, but everything else seems to fly ok.
“Let me close the driver’s rear door for you because the seal is jacked up and I’m not spending That Kind Of Money on a single door seal” is about the only real one. I’d prefer people didn’t use the glass to close the doors, and since I control where we go for food, I don’t really have to worry about people’s weird food odors.
Don’t lean forward as the passenger to look at traffic at an intersection. That’s my job. Also, don’t wave people through an intersection as a passenger. Again, my job. This shit happens so often.
I was writing the same thing when your comment came up.
Your head blocking the view is not helping 🙂
I don’t really have “rules” since just about everyone that rides in my car is capable of behaving like an adult. They typically ask before doing something that could be considered a party foul.
I tried enforcing “no feet on the dash” with my wife. She was a frequent offender on road trips until she took a steering wheel airbag to the face. The air bag hurt her more than the collision (she had just stopped, the other car was doing, maybe 15MPH). She now respects the power of those things and keeps her feet off the dash!
My toddler doesn’t respond to verbal commands yet. Rules have no effect on him. He is trying to type his first internet comment while on my lap…
“rr nrv ccmn fffffffffffffff czs” says the boy!
I think we have a winner for COTD right there. Pithy, yet succinct!
If you put your feet on my dashboard, I will not even slow down when I push you out.
The handy thing about most of my friends being larger gentlemen in their 40s is that it’s not physically possible for them to put their legs on the dashboard.
This sums it up, I think. And people who would be in my car are already on-board with it: I can’t recall in recent history ever asking anyone to do (or not to do) something.
OTOH I do not transport children, so that eliminates a lot of the issues right there.
My passengers are almost always under the age of 6, so my rules are much more like “Keep your hands off your brother” and “No requesting the same song 3 times in a row” than others’ may be.
Probably not normal but I made my kids take their shoes out if possible. They always carry something inside (mud, leaves, dirt in general) plus they love to put their feet on the back of the seats and every surface possible. I have tiny blankets for them so they can feel more cozy with no shoes and driving around in the minivan, I like to treat it as an extension of the house, clean and cozy.
my mom will thrown us to the back of the pickup if we were dirty lmao oh the good days
Basically it boils down to “Do no harm”… if your shoes are clean and soft, I don’t care if you have your foot touching the dash or resting on it, if your shoes are caked in mud, you’re not getting in, or are putting a piece of plastic down / taking them off.
No issue with food, but if it’s going to make a mess, it better make a mess on you or you’re gonna clean it… If you’re gonna smoke, the windows stay down 5 more minutes after you’re done…
I don’t have rules? All of my passengers are reasonable adults, I don’t I’ve ever had to correct anyone or say “don’t do that” or anything of that nature.
I’ve really got nothing beyond only inviting my coolest friends along.
You don’t need to slam the door like it owes you money in order to close it.
My Smart is such a low volume and sealed so tight that you have to do exactly that if the windows are up and only one door open.