The Weird Law Arkansas Residents Are Required To Follow At Sandwich Shops

The internet loves stories about weird laws. Whether it's a ban on letting monkeys smoke in Indiana or a prohibition on singing the alphabet in Kansas (which is actually a myth, music fans and kindergartners will be pleased to know), articles about outdated and baffling rules are everywhere. Typically, you'll see these lists shared on social media. Maybe you still have a relative who emails them around, and you'll read it, get a chuckle, and move on with your day. Rarely does anyone take the time to see if these are actual laws and, if they are, understand the reasons behind them. For instance, in Arkansas, there is a law that prohibits honking your horn at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 p.m.

This bylaw is very real and you can read it in the Little Rock, Arkansas, municipal code. Some sources online condense the bylaw by saying it prohibits honking at sandwich shops, but that is not entirely true. It's any place that serves sandwiches or cold drinks. If you stop to consider what that means, it's essentially any restaurant at all. The wording is a little obtuse, but Little Rock doesn't want you honking your horn after dark near restaurants.

Without the specificity of a sandwich shop, which seems random, the law still sounds strange, though not quite as unusual. However, we're still just scratching the surface. Let's go a little deeper.

If you honk your horn after 9:00 p.m. at a place selling sandwiches in Little Rock, you could face a fine of up to $1,000. When the law was first enacted, the fine was a staggering $2, though it could have been as high as $5. This is because it dates back to the 1920s, and that's the heart of why this law exists in the first place.

When drive-in restaurants first appeared, diners had to park and honk for service. The original law prohibited honking after 11:00 p.m., and in the 1960s, city officials lowered the limit to 9:00 p.m. Drive-in restaurants were a new phenomenon at the time. The sudden influx of people parking and honking must have been very annoying to residents who had never dealt with constant honking before. This was a simple noise violation that grew out of a new innovation in restaurants and dining a century ago.

These days, drive-in restaurants barely exist since a beloved fast food chain invented the modern drive-thru. You don't need to honk your horn when you pull up to place your order. Modern technology has eliminated the need to make any noise at all. So the law is only silly insofar as it's a bit outdated. It's safe to assume that the police don't spend a lot of time enforcing this rule. That said, if you're making your way through the most iconic sandwich shops in every state and honk your horn incessantly in a Little Rock parking lot, at least they would have some guidance on what kind of fine to give you.