When it‘s raining on my car‘s windshield I can see reasonably well through the drops. If I turn on the windshield wipers though, it just smears the water around and makes it harder to see. So I usually drive in the rain without turning on my windshield wipers. Am I breaking the law?
All US states require working windshield wipers. Not having them on could constitute negligent driving, but only in the event of an accident - proving it would be difficult. By the way, most states are now requiring that the driver turn on their headlights if their wipers are on.
Not only are you breaking the law you are being foolish. If you are in an accident in the rain, you will be charged. If you can only see reasonably well, you can't see. If you can see better with no wipers than with, you have old worn-out wipers on your car, which is also against the law. For ten bucks or so, you can see again, fool. Don't they teach you anything basic in driver's ed? I'll bet you think as long as your tires hold air and you haven't slid off the road yet, they are still good even if they are bald, too.
I know in California, it is the law that you have working windshield wipers. I believe the law to require windshield wipers though is state dependent, so I wouldn't know if you were breaking the law unless I knew the laws of your specific state. California's specific vehicle code found here: www.dmv.ca /pubs/vctop/d12/vc2. (Again this is a state dependent law)
