A student from Cornwall is planning to carry out an unusual crime spree when he travels across the United States of America and breaks weird local laws along the way.A STUDENT from Cornwall is planning to carry out an unusual crime spree when he travels across the United States of America and breaks weird local laws along the way.
Richard Smith, 23, of Portreath, near Redruth, will risk being arrested for falling asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota, going whale-hunting in Utah and riding a bike in a swimming pool in California.
He intends to break about 40 strange state and town laws as he crosses America, starting from the notorious former prison island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
His 18,000-mile journey across the continent will end in Hartford, Connecticut, where it is illegal to cross the road while walking on your hands.
Mr Smith, looking forward to his summer venture, said: "I am not one of those people who likes going away and sitting by a pool. I want a purpose, and this seemed perfect."
The inspiration for his crusade came while he was playing a board game with his 12-year-old neighbour on Christmas Day three years ago.
He said: "The game featured laws which were ludicrous and I thought they would be enjoyable to break for real."
One of the first to catch his eye was a law forbidding widows in Florida from going parachuting on Sundays.
He then spent hours researching America's odd legislation using the website and came up with his 40 favourites.
Mr Smith said that among the US laws he planned to break included ones which say it is illegal to:
Fall asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota;
Play cards against a Native American in Globe, Arizona;
Drive around the town square in Oxford, Mississippi more than 100 times on a single occasion;
Say "oh boy" in Jonesborough, Georgia;
Play golf in the streets of Albany, New York;
Go whale hunting in Salt Lake City in landlocked Utah.
He says he is disappointed Virginia has just dropped a bill making it illegal to wear low-slung trousers exposing underwear.
Mr Smith, a journalism student at Cornwall College, Pool, plans to write a book about his exploits and he is hoping to interest a television company.
Asked if he was worried about running foul of the law and being deported, he said: "I think there's more chance I will get arrested for the way I break the laws than for breaking the laws themselves.
"Who knows, there might actually be a good reason for their existence - I am quite willing to find out."
He plans to set off in late July with his partner in crime, Luke Bateman, 20, from Redruth, and estimates the challenge will take him eight weeks.
Three years ago he and Luke visited Tallinn, Estonia, to sit in the town square and watch the Eurovision Song Contest.
Mr Smith is not the first Briton to pursue an eccentric quest.
In 2000 comedian Dave Gorman travelled the world in search of 54 namesakes.
Mr Smith plans to keep himself amused between now and July by climbing Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis in a day.
He said: "Someone told me it was impossible to stand on the highest peaks of Wales, England and Scotland in the time that it takes the sun to rise and set and I wanted to prove him wrong."
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