The United States is a nation of laws, a lot of laws:
About 40,000 state laws taking effect at the start of the new year will change rules about getting abortions in New Hampshire, learning about gays and lesbians in California, getting jobs in Alabama and even driving golf carts in Georgia.
Several federal rules change with the new year, too, including a Social Security increase amounting to $450 a year for the average recipients and stiff fines up to $2,700 per offense for truckers and bus drivers caught using hand-held cellphones while driving.
40,000 new state laws taking effect this year? The “ignorance of the laws isn’t an excuse” excuse is no longer valid. Nobody can possibly hope to know 40,000 laws, and those are only the new ones on the books this year.