Drunk inventors caught cruising in car-pool
German police were left speechless at the weekend when they stopped a group of inventive revellers cruising around town in a unique swimming-pool-car of their own creation - sloshing water onto the pavement at every turn.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in Eibenstock near Chemnitz, southern Saxony, as a lone police sergeant made his rounds on his motorbike, the local force said in a statement.
Suddenly, he saw the strangest-looking convertible he'd ever seen – a roofless BMW, without registration plates, bordered around the open top with wooden boards and fake plastic flowers. It was also full of water.
Aside from the driver, the car held three young males clad only in swimming trunks – one of whom was lolling on the boot with his feet dangling down into the vehicle. All of them appeared drunk, the police said.
The sergeant turned back to get a closer look, and ended up chasing the BMW as it sped off into a car park - losing much of its liquid load as it went.
The young men brought their invention to a halt and jumped out, fleeing across a nearby dry riverbed to watch proceedings from the safety of the opposite bank.
The policeman found the men had hollowed out the inside of the car, sealed and waterproofed it, before painting it blue and filling it with water.
Concerned that the men would try to reclaim their “car-pool” and make a getaway, the sergeant let the air out of the tyres, disconnected the spark plug leads and waited for backup to arrive as crowds of curious onlookers began to appear.
Eventually the driver returned to fetch his belongings from the boot. The visibly intoxicated 27-year-old, who insisted he hadn't been driving the unregistered vehicle, was allowed to recover his shoes and wallet – in exchange for a blood sample.
Police said they were investigating the man on suspicion of drink-driving and of driving an uninsured, unregistered vehicle.
Even legal experts seemed baffled as to which or how many other traffic laws the drivable-pool-project may have violated.
DPA/The Local/jlb
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It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in Eibenstock near Chemnitz, southern Saxony, as a lone police sergeant made his rounds on his motorbike, the local force said in a statement.
Suddenly, he saw the strangest-looking convertible he'd ever seen – a roofless BMW, without registration plates, bordered around the open top with wooden boards and fake plastic flowers. It was also full of water.
Aside from the driver, the car held three young males clad only in swimming trunks – one of whom was lolling on the boot with his feet dangling down into the vehicle. All of them appeared drunk, the police said.
The sergeant turned back to get a closer look, and ended up chasing the BMW as it sped off into a car park - losing much of its liquid load as it went.
The young men brought their invention to a halt and jumped out, fleeing across a nearby dry riverbed to watch proceedings from the safety of the opposite bank.
The policeman found the men had hollowed out the inside of the car, sealed and waterproofed it, before painting it blue and filling it with water.
Concerned that the men would try to reclaim their “car-pool” and make a getaway, the sergeant let the air out of the tyres, disconnected the spark plug leads and waited for backup to arrive as crowds of curious onlookers began to appear.
Eventually the driver returned to fetch his belongings from the boot. The visibly intoxicated 27-year-old, who insisted he hadn't been driving the unregistered vehicle, was allowed to recover his shoes and wallet – in exchange for a blood sample.
Police said they were investigating the man on suspicion of drink-driving and of driving an uninsured, unregistered vehicle.
Even legal experts seemed baffled as to which or how many other traffic laws the drivable-pool-project may have violated.
DPA/The Local/jlb
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