Vilnius mayor runs over illegally parked car in a tank
The eccentric mayor of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has decided to send a stern message to anyone thinking of illegally parking on his city's streets: by driving over an illegally parked car in a Soviet-era armoured personnel carrier.
In a publicity stunt designed for the internet age, the mayor, Arturas Zuokas, was at the controls of the eight-wheeled camouflaged vehicle as it rolled over a Mercedes car illegally parked in a cycle lane.
Go to the link. They have video. Now, sadly, the car crushed wasn't some inconsiderate SOB's private luxobarge but an aged Mercedes bought for the event. It would have been so much nicer to see some yutz businessman who parked illegally come out to find his shiny sedan all smushed...
Now, I'll admit to a bit of prejudice when it comes to people parking in places they shouldn't. I worked my way through college and high school at a local grocery store, and saw all manner of idiots parking. Folks pulling into a handicapped space - with no plate, placard, or visibile handicap - even though non-handicapped spots were available two spaces over. Folks parked in the fire lane - one guy reading a newspaper while his wife did their weekly shopping.
I've got a low tolerance for lazy people, and it drops to zero when it impacts others...
That is all.
5 comments:
Hey, Given that Twitch can't drive, I've been the guy sitting in the fire-lane while she runs in. usually its to buy or return a single item. But At least if I see a fire truck or a response vehicle I can get out of the way ASAP.
Don't see anything wrong with that.
The people who qualify for the 'Andy Capp spots aren't always saints, either. I've seen them shove their empty cart over into another handicap space before they leave. I don't expect them to push it to the cart corral - those things are even further away than the store entrance - but they could leave it in the striped loading zone between the parking spaces.
An old high school buddy's dad was a fireman. At a fire in his first week on the job he was running the hose to the hydrant which was blocked by a Caddy.
He busted both the driver and passenger windows to get the hose hooked up to the hydrant.
At which point the Caddy-driving mayor came out of a nearby building to watch his FD work.
The Captain on the scene, and later the Chief, backed his dad immediately and 100%.
While I agree with the sentiment, I am not sure that I think it is a proportional response for the offense. Particularly since the point of parking restrictions is public safety, and I am not sure how having crushed car parts in the same spot as the original car improves public safety.
Also, one has to consider the practicality of towing the crushed car. It would be easier, and achieve the same effect, I think, if parking enforcement placed boots on the car, the car was towed at the tow man's connivence, and they crushed the car off site.
Y'know, an easy fix for those folks who you see doing things which you feel are wrong, like parking in a fire zone or other such things, is a simple one....Get a valve stem remover. Use it . Don't remove the stem completely, just loosen it.
I'm just sayin'
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