We love it when someone paints mysterious lines on the tarmac. Ooo, we love it. But not so Gary Caulson of Chingford. He recently had a soul-crushing experience upon returning to his car. During Gary’s one-week absence, some cunning paintsmith had daubed double-yellows beneath his vehicle. And then left three parking tickets totalling £240 by way of admonishment.
It is absolutely ridiculous. When I saw what they had done, I was just incredibly frustrated. I have no intention of paying. I would rather go to court and have my say there.
Rightly so. It’s tomfoolery of the first order. You have to admire the chutzpah, though.
But this is not the first time that transport authorities have pulled a fast one on unwitting motorists. In 1985, the previously linear M112 was pulled into a loop and renamed the M25, thus trapping hundreds of drivers in a hellish disc of infinity. Similar traffic-planning japery led to the mini-masterpiece on the Isle of Dogs shown in the photo.
It’s great to see such innovation in an otherwise mundane vocation (see also Da Vinci judge). Still, we’ve got a long way to go before we can compete with California.
Photo from Flickr photostream of Fin Fahey.