This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Cartwheels, Reverse Gears, and Road Rage
This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays we look at three cases where driving mixed badly with theatrics, mechanical excuses, and misplaced fury. None of them end in applause.
The Cartwheel Test
In Cape Coral, Florida, police found a man slumped in the drive-thru lane at McDonald’s. He admitted to drinking Chardonnay and was asked to step out for a field sobriety test. Instead of walking a straight line, he decided to try a cartwheel. It ended with him on the pavement. He refused the breathalyzer and was arrested.
In Canada, refusing a lawful field sobriety test demand is a criminal offence. A cartwheel does not excuse the refusal, but in my view it should.
Reverse Commute
On Dixie Road in Brampton, Ontario, dashcams caught a driver reversing down a major artery and even through an intersection. He later claimed the transmission had failed.
I’m surprised he didn’t consider the option of a tow truck. Reversing into traffic is the sort of “marked departure” that can qualify as dangerous driving under the Criminal Code.
Ramming on the Bridge
In Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, dashcam footage showed a driver repeatedly ramming another car, apparently trying to shove it off the road and into a bridge barrier. Police had to deploy a spike belt to end the pursuit. The accused faces charges including dangerous driving, mischief endangering life, criminal harassment, assaulting police, and resisting arrest.
One gets the impression that road rage incidents are on the rise. Maybe it’s the change of seasons. Maybe people have stopped being nice to one another. I hope the trend reverses.
That’s it for this week.
