There have been so many SPOTDs recently, I set aside some time to write them up. So, the sudden flood of SPOTD reports does not indicate there are more SPOTDs than usual - just that I’ve written them up. Trust me - there’s one every day…

This one concerns our neighbours - those wacky young people with the fancy cars again. The last time they featured in a SPOTD report, it was because they left a Jeep Grand Cherokee with two flat tyres for 24 days in a row, rather than spend the money to fix them. Well, as it turned out, they must have only fixed them to leave the flat, because the Jeep was there for another day or two, and we’ve not seen it since.

In it’s place, there is a clapped out second-hand hatchback which has obviously seen better days. It is actually quite odd to see all of the new cars being washed, all gleaming and shiny, and then one car which is not looked after at all. The new neighbour seems to have replaced the Jeep driver, and was in the circle of friends before that, since we’ve seen him many times before. It’s hard to miss him - he always comes into the street approximately 20kph over the speed limit, then locks on the brakes and spins the car sideways to produce large skid marks on the road. Lately, he’s taken to pulling into the driveway (which is obviously a right-angle from the road) in the same fashion, sliding the car into the entrance, despite the fact there are cars parked just on either side of the entrance.

As the tail of the car swings out, they miss the parked car on the far side of the driveway by very little - less than six inches one day when I happened to be on the balcony as they slid to a halt. It seemed like they’d had a bit of a scare, but the next day they did it again. In the rain…

So far they’ve not hit the parked cars, but they cannot get away with this forever. One day they will have to mess up, slightly overestimating the amount of tread on their tyres, and will end up slamming into the parked car with the side of their vehicle. In a way, I wish it would happen - at the moment, there is nothing anybody can do to stop them. On the other hand, that means someone gets their car trashed, just to prove a point, and there is no guarantee it will prove a point.

What I am truly hoping is that the SPOTD who insists on sliding out his car to come to a halt is going to slightly overshoot and slam into the car that is usually parked on the far side. That car belongs to another SPOTD (see an upcoming SPOTD report), and frankly, I’d love nothing more than to see his car off the road. If it was a really good accident, it might even be able to take them both off the road at the same time. What I truly hope most is that if a collision does happen, I am awake and able to go out on the balcony and laugh and point as they survey the damage.

Categories: SPOTD