Yes, the photo above is real: It is Animal—from The Muppets—driving a British Audi while speeding through a German road. The famous pink drummer is driving the police there absolutely crazy, because he keeps doing it again and again. Or better said, the real driver is, using a low-tech approach to take advantage of a weak point of the radar cameras. I don’t know about you, but this image makes me laugh out loud. The German police, however, weren’t amused when they explained to the press how the whole joke worked and how they couldn’t fine the driver because of it:
“The number plate is not enough [to catch and fine the driver]. We need clear evidence of who is driving the vehicle too. But because this is a British vehicle we can never get a decent picture [because he radar cameras are designed to take photos of the passengers in the left seat, not the right]. The driver has obviously worked this out because he has placed a large puppet in the passenger seat.
This may be an example of the famous British sense of humour but it is still dangerous driving. The driver has been caught on camera on several occasions and the puppet is on the passenger seat every time. We suspect he positions the toy deliberately before accelerating past the camera.”
Hmmm, I wonder if this would work here….
LOL that is awesome!!! LOL
I don’t approve of the speeding but that is pretty damn funny.
Must have his drum set in the back there…
Har! For a couple of decades, I’ve had in my mind a Science Fiction novel about a future time when video cameras were everywhere. People got into the habbit of not leaving the house without wearing a disguise of some kind.
Influences were, George Orwell’s 1984, naturally, but also The Beatles Eleanor Rigby….”wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door….
Too funny.
Hey Ringo, Animal is still answering email from his fans.
Freaking muppets!!! How do they get a license?
Oh, they must be from the U.S.
I fail to see what the problem is.
The photo has the driver’s face swirled out. They know that it is a right-hand drive car, so they can see who is operating it. If the police can’t see the wheel, then they can check with the DMV where the car is registered to see what type it is.
And even if they couldn’t make out the driver, why can’t they ticket the owner of the car? That is what they do in Australia. If you the owner don’t get someone to own up to the speeding incident, then you are held responsible. The idea is that you, as the owner, have control over who is operating your car.
And if you car was stolen, then you simple have to prove the theft to the police to get the ticket dismissed.
I am surprised that the German police have not implemented the same “The owner is responsible” policy for traffic violations.
What’s with the Twirl Photoshop filter action in the real drivers seat and the door. The fact that you can get the entire car clean, and then have the driver swirled out seems fishy to say the germans can’t figure out who the driver is.
#1 – The Muppets are about your “speed”.
See? Another win with no effort at all.
Why don’t they just impound the stupid car. They may not be able to see the driver, but the id of the car (less the photoshopping) is clear.
I don’t know what the impound fee’s are in Germany, but in the US the impound fee’s should be similar or greater than a speeding ticket.
My recollection from other threads on this is that the issues are all related to the privacy laws in Germany.
They’re very stringent, and the swirling is an automatic function of the speeding cameras (to protect the privacy of the passenger). It’s not done in postprocessing. Their laws require both the license plate as well as a picture of the driver in order to send a ticket.
As mentioned in the article, the cameras are set up to work against the majority of cars in Germany, which have the driver on the left side. This car is an import from the UK with the driver on the right side.
Jim Henson would be proud! lololololololol
I thought they caught that Swirl Face guy…