Australian Driver's Kitchenware Joyride Doesn't Pan Out

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Anything that happens in Australia is already sort of funny, because we all remember the Simpsons episode where the Aussie locals play knifey-spoony and Homer salutes the toilet.

Well, from the land of Midnight Oil, Nicole Kidman and the defunct Ford Falcon Ute comes this story, thanks to Jalopnik, the South Australia Police, and a man who wouldn’t let a missing steering wheel end his motoring dreams.

According to a South Australia police report, cops were called to an Adelaide street on September 4 after a resident reported a suspicious red Mazda sedan and a strange man loitering nearby.

When they arrived, officers spied the red Mazda leaving the scene. Naturally, they followed the driver to a nearby parking lot, where they found that his vehicle’s standard equipment was somewhat lacking.

Instead of a boring steering wheel, this Mazda came equipped with a rare aftermarket accessory — a frying pan bolted to the steering hub, sans handle.

Police didn’t describe the man’s lifestyle, but the frying pan reads “17-7-14-14-5 Uncontrollable & driven to love only a beating HEART R.I.P. (unintelligible squiggles).” It appears that the heartfelt message was scrawled in Whiteout correction fluid, which is the ink of poets.

It turns out that the frying pan was the least of the driver’s concerns. Police booked the 32-year-old for driving unregistered and uninsured in a defective vehicle with the defect label removed. Also, the Mazda’s front license plate was altered (naughty…) and the driver was in violation of his bail conditions.

So, the cops impounded Adelaide Andy’s Mazda for 28 days. Hopefully, when it returns to the streets of sunny Australia, the new (or current) owner installs a wheel that provides some crash protection. We suggest this:

[Images: South Australia Police; Mike Mozart/ Flickr]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Pwrwrench Pwrwrench on Sep 08, 2016

    Chronic industrial exposure to diacetyl fumes, such as in the microwave popcorn production industry, has been associated with bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and life-threatening form of non-reversible obstructive lung disease in which the bronchioles (small airway branches) are compressed and narrowed by fibrosis (scar tissue) and/or inflammation. Bon Apetite! This stuff is the main ingredient in fake butter. Don't smell it if u want to keep breathing. People who make several servings a day have had lung damage, not just those who work in manufacturing it.

  • -Nate -Nate on Sep 08, 2016

    As so often ; A good article followed by even better comments ! =8-) . Greetings from Ganado, Az. -Nate

  • 28-Cars-Later What happened to the $1.1 million pounds?I saw an interview once I believe with Salvatore "the Bull" Gravano (but it may have been someone else) where he was asked what happened to all the money while he was imprisoned. Whomever it was blurted out something to the effect of "oh you keep the money, the Feds are just trying to put you away". Not up on criminal justice but AFAIK the FBI will seize money as part of an arrest/investigation but it seems they don't take you to the cleaners when they know you're a mobster (or maybe as part of becoming a rat they turn a blind eye?). I could really see this, because whatever agency comes after it has to build a case and then presumably fight defense counsel and it might not be worth it. I wonder if that's the case here?
  • 28-Cars-Later "Around half of that money comes from the Department of Energy to help internal combustion engine suppliers retool to make EV parts."So, pay them to dispose of their current presses/equipment to choke future parts availability, then most of them become insolvent when EV doesn't happen. Brilliant!"Another $50 million provides grants of up to $300,000 for the companies to make their factories greener and improve cybersecurity.""$300K isn't squat to renovate anything in an actual factory or hire new SecOps folks/add to an IT dept (best I can think of is some developer training/conferences on more secure coding). Depending on how one would qualify, this is either a bribe to the owners so they'll dance whatever tune comes out of Washington, or just free money to selected parties (i.e. subservient to D.I.E.).FJB - May he live at least another 40 years in the most excruciating pain possible.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Auto Stop/Start is useless. If you want it, great, but it should be an option within a package. Same with those satellite stations. Just leave it off my head unit and give me AM radio and a USB port for my own music collection.
  • Doc423 Question to EV/Tesla owners : how long will a Tesla or EV hold a charge on it's battery when it sits for months, especially, like here, outdoors in all weather conditions??
  • Doc423 Would LOVE to see the laws changed here in the U.S. and see may of these sleezebags get jail time, including Dealers.
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