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The Weird World of Wheels
17 August 2007 Low roller It’s safe to say Suggs won’t be entering into any drinking bets in the near future. The 45-year-old Madness singer bet fellow Virgin radio presenter Christian O’Connell that O'Connell couldn't drink could drink more pints of Guinness than him in a weekend. Suggs was so confident he would win he put up his treasured Rolls Royce. He lost the bet, and the victorious O’Connell decided to copy the Who’s Keith Moon, by driving the Roller into a swimming pool (see picture). The soggy Roller will be on display at this weekend’s V Festival in Chelmsford.
Ever wanted to get your own back on the clampers? When caravan owner Glyn Roberts arrived at a motorway service station and found all the caravan spaces taken up he parked in a spot reserved for HGVs. A clamper then immobilised the couple’s towing vehicle while the 51-year-old and his wife were in their mobile home eating sandwiches. Mr Roberts then took his revenge by using his own clamp to immobilise the van owned by the clamping team. A standoff ensued, watched by a cheering crowd then ensued at the service station at Cullumpton on the M5 in Devon. By the time police arrived Mr Roberts had removed the clamp from the clamper’s van and paid a £130 fee to free his own vehicle. Mr Roberts said: "I have no regrets whatsoever about what I did. I have been told that, as the sign warning motorists of the clampers was more than three car lengths from my vehicle, I may be able to reclaim my money." The rung kind of ladders Previously arsonists and vengeful victims were the speed detector’s worst enemy. Council officials in the North West are being prevented from installing electronic speed indicators - by health and safety regulations. The indicators shame drivers into slowing down by flashing their speed. Workers are not allowed scale the three-foot ladders to put up the signs as they are not qualified to ‘work at height without consent’. Tony Martin, a Lancashire County Council member, said: “Now we have bought quite a few of these, they are languishing in village halls for want of people with ladder skills.” Weird Pic of the Week: “Would the driver of the gigantic weiner please move his buns?”
As a parking officer working in Chicago you might expect to ticket a few vehicles in one day. A saloon, a sports car, maybe even an improperly parked bike. But not a massive sausage. An Oscar Meyer Wienermobile (above), invented by Carl G. Meyer in 1936, was illegally parked on a six-lane road in the windy city, when it was spotted, and ticketed, by a police officer. The officer radioed for a tow truck, but the driver returned to the vehicle, which was on a nationwide tour on behalf of Kraft Foods, before it arrived. Kraft spokesperson Sydney Linder said: “Illegal parking is against company policy, even if you're driving a company vehicle that's shaped like a giant hot dog." Video: How not to exit a parking garage If you’re in an automatic car, don’t get out to open a gate while the car is still in gear. Click the play button below to see for yourself.
Previous Weird World of Wheels: August 10th 2007
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If you can’t beat ‘em, clamp ‘em
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