Half a protest

A British man cut his own car in half as a protest after being fined for having it parked illegally on the road, despite the fact that it was in his own driveway at the time. One wheel of the vehicle had been protruding onto the pavement (sidewalk) by a mere 50mm and the car had been registered by its owner as being off-road, without the annual license duty being paid. However when the man returned from work he discovered that it had been clamped and was told by the authorities that it would be towed away.
July 30, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A British man cut his own car in half as a protest after being fined for having it parked illegally on the road, despite the fact that it was in his own driveway at the time. One wheel of the vehicle had been protruding onto the pavement (sidewalk) by a mere 50mm and the car had been registered by its owner as being off-road, without the annual license duty being paid. However when the man returned from work he discovered that it had been clamped and was told by the authorities that it would be towed away. He responded by taking a circular saw and cutting it in half, saying that the authorities were welcome to take the rear end of the vehicle. The fire brigade and police were called as the vehicle caught fire during the cutting process but the fire was quickly put out and the police declined to intervene.

Related Content

  • Rebuilding better gravel roads more efficiently
    October 15, 2015
    Using a linear road crusher can rebuild gravel roads using material onsite at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods. Gravel roads are common in many rural areas in the US to provide access to temporary work sites and are also used widely in developing countries. Maintaining and repairing these roads can pose challenges and new methods may offer improvements in efficiency.
    Read More
  • New international trade crossing linking Canada and US
    June 9, 2015
    The Detroit River is short, only 45km, and narrow in places, less than 1km. Around a quarter of the annual $658 billion Canada-US trade crosses over the river. That’s $160 billion worth of goods trucked each year between Detroit in the US state of Michigan and the Canadian city of Windsor in the province of Ontario - the Windsor-Detroit Corridor. There are several types of crossings, but the vast majority of commercial traffic must use the 2.3km Ambassador Bridge (see box). A new bridge was initially prop
    Read More
  • Making the U-turn
    August 2, 2012
    Political hostility to a toll road project in Australia has been turned around by the quality and amenity of the project writes Adrian Greeman Cars, trucks and vans were taking to the new EastLink toll road in Melbourne with enthusiasm this July, pleased to try out its 39km route for time and cost savings. As well as the convenience of the uncongested route, drivers were also able to view an extraordinary multi-shaded perspective of transparent green and orange noise wall panels, burnt earth-coloured retai
    Read More
  • Brake and Direct Line survey: UK drivers flout traffic laws
    April 28, 2015
    Half of UK drivers in a recent survey admitted to breaking traffic laws and half of these drivers said they did it with intention. Of the drivers who willingly broke the law, half acknowledged they did it because they believed there was little chance of getting caught, or they simply did not agree the law and saw no reason to obey. Road safety charity Brake and vehicle insurance company Direct Line said the survey reveals a worrying attitude by many road users toward safety on highways. Brake said that U
    Read More

Highlighted Content