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I just saw on Fifth Gear (a UK TV car show) that it was illegal to drive a dirty car in Belarus. A Google search revealed many other people believe this to be true.

Can anyone confirm it is true and explain why?

P_S
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cantsay
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  • [Driving in Belarus](http://www.belarus.by/en/travel/driving) doesn't say anything about that, although as you say it's commonly repeated around the internet. –  Aug 21 '14 at 00:06
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    Sounds like a great question for [Skeptics.SE] :-) – gerrit Aug 21 '14 at 00:21
  • according to [The Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9954389/Beware-unusual-driving-laws-in-Europe.html) it's really illegal, but I still can't find official source. –  Aug 21 '14 at 08:31

1 Answers1

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It is true, but in a very unspectacular way.

The official traffic laws state:

10. The driver is prohibited to:

...

10.3 participate in road traffic on a vehicle covered with dirt (laminations), limiting the driver's field of vision and also making indiscernible the information on the registration plate at a distance of 40 meters and less

So - yes, you can be fined (up to 300,000 Belarus Rubles, that is, up to about 30$) for having a dirty vehicle - but only if you can't see the road or the police can't see your licence plate. This is legislation the kinds of which have been seen in many a country.

P_S
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  • thanks. I would have thought that was the case in all countries. – cantsay Aug 21 '14 at 13:34
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    Unless I'm much mistaken, at the very least, the "making indiscernible the information on the registration plate" isn't Belarus invention. Same rules apply in USA and probably everywhere else – user5341 Aug 21 '14 at 14:00
  • I used to work in a place where the vast majority of winter speeding violations caught by a speeding camera outside the workplace were useless, as license plates were covered in snow. – gerrit Aug 22 '14 at 15:50
  • @gerrit - here's evidence for USA: [one](http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/license-plate-laws.html), [two](http://www.stjamessheriff.com/PressRoom/PressRoomDisplay.asp?p1=1220&p2=Y) – user5341 Aug 24 '14 at 23:14
  • @DVK I did not mean to challenge your claim. I'm pretty sure that the same rules apply in Sweden but it appears Swedish road police have other priorities during a snowstorm than to enforce this rule (yes, some people are speeding in snowstorms) – gerrit Aug 25 '14 at 00:47