History Main / OptionalTrafficLaws

* In the ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad Sam And Max Freelance Police]]'' episodic games, the main characters ''are'' the police (well, police with no official authorization or oversight on any level), and one of them is additionally [[spoiler: the President of the United States]], so there's no penalty for destroying traffic cones, stoplights, lampposts, or sidewalk cafes during the driving sequences. There's no benefit, either - it's just ''fun''.

* In the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movie video games, the police will generally ignore you in vehicle mode, so long as you don't actually blow anything up. (And sometimes even then.) You'd think that people searching for alien robots that turn into cars would take notice of a car that's behaving like the driver's never been on a planet with traffic laws.

** In ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted'' and ''Carbon'', when you attract police attention, your police scanner will let you know if the police are looking for a reckless driver in general, or your car specifically (the difference between "caller did not get a good look" and "suspect is driving a [color] [make]"). If they don't have your vehicle description, and you follow traffic laws, they won't come after you. But when you're in a car that can go 250 miles an hour, driving under 35 is ''difficult'', to say the least (you're still in first gear! Not even pushing 4000 RPMS!).

This can be problematic, as most driving games feature vehicles that can only alternate between "unmoving" and "already too fast". That's usually good, but it becomes a nuisance when having to follow a NPC car that obeys traffic laws and/or will [[StalkingMission get scared if you get too near]].

* ''A.P.B.'' from Creator/{{Atari}} Games works similarly, although bad enough wrecks will get you demerits. Then again, you're the cop in this one.

* Most VideoGame/MarioKart games from ''Mario Kart 64'' and onward have at least one racetrack in the form of a public road, with regular motor traffic still traveling through it. The racers, of course, can weave through traffic, collide with them, ignore lane divisions, drive on the wrong side of the road, ignore traffic lights and tollbooths, and attack the non-racing vehicles and not get in any trouble. The Extra version of Toad's Turnpike in ''Mario Kart 64'' takes it further by having the entire race set in the opposite direction of traffic. Moonview Highway from ''Mario Kart Wii'', actually encourages sheer chaos on the roads, as a few vehicles are gigantic bombs (which themselves are barely following traffic rules) that explode if a racer or item touches them in any way.

* In ''Videogame/{{Elite}} Dangerous'', the player is free to ram ships pretty much anywhere - and is a common way of griefing in online play - but [[DisproportionateRetribution god help you if so much as dare to enter a space station without first asking for docking permission]].

* And the ''GTA'' clone where you play as the cop, ''TrueCrime'' also features this trope.

* As part of the general issues with DiplomaticImpunity, it's absurdly common for diplomats to act as if traffic laws in their host country don't apply to them at all, since there's no way that they can feasibly be prosecuted for them. The UK government in 2014 published [[https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/parking-fines-incurred-by-diplomatic-missions-and-international-organisations-in-the-uk--2?msclkid=74423888d07111eca2752638bcc5a606 a list]] of countries whose diplomats owe over £100,000 in parking fines and London congestion charges (topped by the USA with over ''£8million'' in unpaid fines, followed by Japan with £5.6million). The possible nadir of this came in 2019 when Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a CIA officer killed 19-year old motorcyclist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Harry_Dunn Harry Dunn]] while driving on the wrong side of the road, and promptly was removed from the country by the US while claiming diplomatic immunity. The UK authorities intend to prosecute her, however it is unclear as to how much Sacoolas will cooperate with this or be required to do so.