Skip to main content

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

  • Repairs needed
    June 27, 2016
    A Chinese driver became so angry with the faults in his newly acquired VW that he drove back to the dealership where he had bought the car and crashed it through the front window. The man had returned to the dealership on a number of occasions to have faults repaired under warranty. He was offered a number of upgrades but remained dissatisfied and at first, took the dealership to court, with the firm then responding with a counter suit of its own. Becoming enraged with this process, the car owner then opted
  • Costly speed
    December 13, 2012
    A Belgian driver was filmed by a friend as he drove his Aston Martin at speeds of up to 292km/h (182mph) along the highway. The video was uploaded onto the Internet and was soon discovered by the police, who wasted little time in tracking the offender. The Belgian authorities were less than impressed and the driver received the maximum sentence. As the offending driver was able to afford an expensive performance car he would have easily been able to afford to pay for a track day at a nearby race track. Or i
  • VIDEO: Freeway cycling is not for the faint hearted
    August 27, 2015
    Road designers and local authorities are getting much better at integrating roads for vehicles and cycle paths, tracks and lanes. But sometimes cyclist must take their chances on riding on a road with no designated cycle ways. Caution is essential for both cyclists and vehicle drivers, but in the end it will be the cyclist who is most likely to come off the worst in any crash. So why tempt fate, as the following news story and videos show.
  • How waste plastic and soybean oil are helping our roads last longer
    April 13, 2018
    A new super-modifier is born from waste plastic in Italy and a soybean-based rejuvenator from the US spreads from its home market. By Kristina Smith The two bitumen technologies featured this month come from almost opposing sources. One emerges from the human-created plastic waste plaguing our planet, the other from a plant. However, both technologies have been created with the same aims: to increase the life of roads, saving cost and ultimately reducing the impact of road building on the planet. A coll