The only thing more annoying than having to dodge cars on pedestrian crossings and bike lanes is if you have to do it on a wheelchair or with the help of a cane. And it gets even more annoying if the car in question is an SUV or a big luxury car. As a matter of fact the size of these cars and the fact that they usually have higher Co2 emissions, make them a concrete metaphor of the hardship of the battle against pollution you are trying to fight every time you get on your bike to go somewhere. The frustration is sometimes so big that you daydream of key scratching the car, or if you’re a Terminator fan, of literally destroying it. Well, for Arturas Zuokas, mayor of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania and probably a huge Terminator fan, the dream became a reality. In a video he posted on the city website, the 43-year old politician drove over a Mercedes –Benz-S-Class parked in a cycle lane, in a Russian tank. “I’ve had enough of these drivers parking their luxury cars on bike lanes and pedestrian crossings,”said Zuokas, “This tank is a good tool to solve the problem of parking in the wrong place.” Although that car was probably just an elaborate stunt, the mayor’s gesture has some kind of fascinating cathartic power for all the frustrated bike/wheelchair riders and for anybody who doesn’t like arrogance.
