By: David Matthews
Success is in the details
On one cold December night in Dover, N.H., Steven Coleman decided he was going to have a blast. He learned the hard way, though, that success is all in the planning.
Coleman’s first stop was his ex-girlfriend’s. After unsuccessfully trying to blow up her apartment building with two Molotov cocktails made from Budweiser bottles, gas and rags, Coleman tried to slip away quietly.
Police had no trouble finding Coleman, though. After all, he was the only 37-year-old man wearing yellow rubber gloves and a jacket with a full bottle of beer in the breast pocket riding a lawn mower down the street while smoking a cigarette.
Coleman tried to throw police off his trail every way he knew how, but his evasive measures weren’t very effective at such slow speeds. In fact, he was eventually stopped by officers on foot. He now faces up to 31 years in jail on a multitude of charges.
What’s the big deal?
After five years of training, an Indian man is finally in the record books. R.S. Santhosh Kumar drove 375 miles in 15 hours last month without the use of his hands.
The jewelry shop owner made the journey by controlling the steering wheel, brake and clutch with his legs while his hands remained tied to the driver’s seat.
The event was monitored by officials from the Limca Book of Records, India’s version of the Guinness Book of World Records. Representatives from Guinness declared that the record could not be considered a world record since it is routinely broken by North American drivers each morning during rush hour.
Gone in 20 seconds
Faster than you can say “crime doesn’t pay,” manhole covers, storm drain grates, light poles and even guardrails are disappearing from roadways around the world.
Fueled by China’s industrial boom and a construction surge in the U.S. and abroad, scrap metal prices have nearly quadrupled since 2001. As a result, college kids are having to search harder than ever for free dorm room decor.
City officials are scrambling to react. More than 220 storm drain grates were stolen in Columbus, Ohio, in the past six months. Chicago had to replace 150 manhole covers in just one month. London lost 93 covers in a single week. The missing grates and covers cost about $75 each to replace while only fetching around $5 at the scrap yard.
Growing replacement costs aren’t the only issue for government. A Chinese court ruled last month that the city of Beijing owes a man $3,600 after he stumbled into an open manhole and broke his leg. Another Beijing man died in November after falling into a coverless cesspool at night and drowning.
Still, try telling that to migrant workers. Many can now make more money cashing in a single stolen manhole cover at the scrap yard than they could working for a full day’s wage.
No way out
An Italian policeman was arrested recently after driving almost 20 miles down a busy one-way street in the wrong direction.
Despite dozens of vehicles swerving out of his way, the 23-year-old officer said that he remained convinced that everyone else was driving the wrong way and that he was right.
Eventually police were able to stop the officer by blocking the road with sandbags, which the officer did not bother to stop for either.
The officer later admitted that problems in his love life had led him to drink and that may have impaired his judgment ever so slightly.
Oh, were you talking to me?
Police in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, are learning that flashing lights and loud sirens may not be enough to get some motorists’ attention.
Police chief Mike Hutter tried to pull over 66-year-old Nita Friedman by flipping on the lights and siren on his Chevy Silverado pickup. But Mrs. Friedman just kept on going.
Fifteen miles and two counties later, Hutter was forced to take drastic action. Even though Friedman maintained a legal speed throughout the chase, Hutter called for a spike strip. Friedman paused for a moment after driving over it, but then started driving again. She didn’t get far, though, with three flattened tires.
When questioned afterward, Friedman said that the police chief’s pickup confused her. She explained that she was from New York and there the police only drive cars.
About The Author: Roads Report is a monthly roundup of unusual traffic-related events in the news. All the stories are true, but reported in fun.
