Car crime is not really our main beat and it’s weird to have two in one day, but every now and then you see something on Twitter it’s difficult not to share. Case-in-point, someone allegedly stole a Land Rover and thought they’d dump it in the nearest body of water without possibly realizing how shallow that body of water actually was.
The Tweet comes courtesy of the nice folks at the Canal & River Trust West Midlands, who are responsible for maintaining the network of canals that weave through this part of England. As they explain on their website:
Across the West Midlands 520 miles of canals weave their way through richly vibrant and culturally diverse communities. Around 1.75 million people live within 1km of the waterways and just over half of Birmingham’s population are within walking distance of their local canal.
Wow! Depending on how you measure it, Birmingham alone has more canals than Venice. If you’d have asked me how deep these were I’d have guessed about six-to-eight feet and I’d have been wrong by about half. According to this website they’re about four feet deep, which is confirmed by this Land Rover Discovery (L319) on its side.
Factory Lock No 3 on the New Main Line Canal in #Tipton is closed as a car is in the lock. We're working on a plan to get this removed as quickly as possible. There are no signs of pollution yet but we will continue to monitor. @ExpressandStar pic.twitter.com/O1422Jns0D
— Canal & River Trust West Midlands (@CRTWestMidlands) November 14, 2022
This wasn’t some strange driving accident but, instead, the BBC reports that vehicle is “thought to be stolen” and the thief (or thieves) drove up to the side of the canal and pushed it in, causing the canal system to have to shut at that point. The Discovery 4 has a wading depth of about 28 inches, but it probably wasn’t rated on its side.
The people who run the canal system, understandably, aren’t happy about it:
The Canal & River Trust said a crane would be used to lift the Land Rover out on Monday afternoon at a cost of about £5,000.
It said the situation was “really frustrating”, but so far there was no sign the water had been polluted.
It is frustrating.
Works have started to lift and remove the vehicle that was dumped in factory lock 3 in Tipton. @CRTWestMidlands @ExpressandStar @ITVCentral @sandwellcouncil pic.twitter.com/KcqutzPZN9
— Lee Bates (@CRT_Lee) November 14, 2022
Don’t dump cars in canals!
Update: The Land Rover has been removed. I repeat, the Land Rover has been removed.
The vehicle has safely been recovered from the water.
Very minimal damage to the lock & environment.
Oils & fluids from the vehicle have been contained within the lock & a team are dealing with it accordingly. @CRTWestMidlands @ExpressandStar @ITVCentral @sandwellcouncil pic.twitter.com/dgfIQA63yD— Lee Bates (@CRT_Lee) November 14, 2022
Photo via Canal & River Trust West Midlands
My first thought was that the stop oil crowd was trying to block canals now!
The fact that they are more worried about pollution in an enclosed body of water than the fact that there is a car in it…
you can literally just close the lock and clean the water people, and yes I have worked on a canal before
So I am thinking that the oil slick on the surface of the water did not constitute “pollution?”
Like most i was fooled by the lead image.Well done ????
Question marks? I thought the emoji might not work but why a bunch of question marks?
The Autopian has weird coding
Five grand for the crane?? That’s ridiculous
Great to see news local to me (well, within 10 miles) coming to me via a US based account! Excellent, thank you!
So mall spec will do. No need for a snorkel to signal what an adventurer you are. I wonder if the child seats are still good.
“the Discovery Channel!”
G’night, folks!
“Pro Tip: Don’t Try To Hide A Stolen Land Rover In A Canal”
Ruined my weekend plans
The thieves’ work looks very much like an amateurish tip to me.
So they ditched it at the narrowest part of the canal, with the driver’s side on the bottom?
I looked at that picture for like 5 minutes trying to figure out what I was looking at, then I clicked on the article.
Same here. I saw it in the RSS feed and was very confused until I clicked on the article.
I definitely wish the picture was posted oriented correctly. Putting it sideways was really strange and confusing. Even after reading the article, it took me a minute to orient my brain as to what I was looking at.
Yeah i am thinking insurance fraud here. But they think its stolen? What did the owner say when contacted? Why have the canal system pay contact the owner to remove it at his or insurance expense. Ticket them $200 a day until they move it.
At any one time, there are an ASTONISHING number of drunk teens in England doing drunk teen things.
Land Rover Discovery (L319) For Sale
Recently washed and detailed interior
Undercarriage washed and cleaned
All systems flushed out
Land Rover Wading Capable
Current MOT
Clean Title
Please, absolutely no low ballers, I’m well aware of what I have, dear chap
“Ran when docked”
“Undercarriage washed and cleaned”
Well, only about 2/3 of it.
In Ingurland that’d be deceptive marketing.
Ran when parked?
Looks like the vehicle is “Locked”, as it is actually …in the lock.
The perspective on the leading image is quite confusing, took me a second to realize that it isn’t trapped in a large fish tank with glass walls
Me too. You might even say it seems wrong somehow.
I thought the cover picture was brilliant! I looked at it for a while and still thought the car was cemented into the side of a building.
from what I understand, all that vibrant cultural diversity is the main factor in the majority of the crime in the UK these days.
Then what you understand is complete bollocks I’m afraid.
Try cuts in social support, draconian benefit reductions, lower numbers of police (and a corresponding lower quality of candidates because decent people don’t want to do the job so they’ve ended up recruiting trash – the several high profile scandals in various forces show this), rampant wealth inequality (that’s getting worse), a lack of opportunities for the underprivileged, a cost of living crisis, oh and let’s not forget the utter shambles that is mental health support in this country.
Our long and proud history of diversity has nothing to do with it.
This is the second time you’ve done this and this is your only warning. This is not the place for you to keep bringing up crime and diversity. Keep it up and get the boot. You have been warned.
This is the same guy who staunchly supports Russia and their attack on Ukraine. I think it’s time they go.
There is possibly a compromise here. Reduce the diversity by deporting the multi-generational lazy white butt lager louts. That should cut right down on stupid crime.
But where to? Hmmm…wasn’t there a penal colony somewhere in the southern hemisphere?
Way to perpetuate a stereotype of a country for something that hasn’t happened since 1868….not much better than the OP really
Matt, you’re late to this guy. This wasn’t enough for you?
“8th–Note says:
November 7, 2022 at 2:17 pm
we need more White kids in this country
+1
Reply
“zeppelopodzeppelopod says:
November 8, 2022 at 2:47 am
you dropped the /s
+7
Reply
“8th–Note8th–Note says:
November 8, 2022 at 9:46 am
no /s involved. its the only way to save this country.”
————————————————
“8th–Note says:
October 27, 2022 at 10:58 am
but the great thing about a lack of diversity is that there are very low crime rates.”
—————————————-
Probably not this one, it’s just a symptom of how badly a guy who probably really is from Appalachia is eager to let himself be lied to:
“8th–Note says:
October 26, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Russia had good reason to liberate its citizens in Donetsk and Luhansk from the despotic and illegitimate Ukrainian govt that was installed by a US led violent overthrow of an elected leader.”
———————————————
His information sources are truly top notch:
“8th–Note says:
October 26, 2022 at 10:38 am
now we just have entire boer families being slaughtered with impunity on their farms.”
—————————————
Actually, I’ll just tell you where I am. If I see this guy again I’m gone.
yeah, I responded to that guy largely out of shock that someone would just come in here and start spouting “great replacement” bullshit off the cuff.
Good to see you’re keeping the receipts; you have to stamp out this proto-fash nonsense quickly. Karl Popper’s paradox of tolerance, and all that.
Might want to take a look at the people who gave a thumbs up to his comment as well.
Also see where he took this conversation:
https://www.theautopian.com/i-confronted-volvos-head-designer-about-the-companys-egregious-decision-to-require-a-touchscreen-button-to-open-the-ex90s-glovebox/comment-page-1/#comment-76855
Dump him.
I saw it. I disagree with it viscerally, but it’s unfortunately a very legal choice.
Not sure if this relates to what you were saying, but it’s worth being said. I think.
Legal or not, free-speech does not mean consequence-free speech, or that one won’t be judged according to it. Communities are free to police the type of members that they want to have, and to build their community on basic agreed-upon principles.
A tendency to allow hate-speech, racism, fear mongering, and alternative-facts, all under the guise of “free-speech”, has and will lead any society to a very dark place.
Just dump this piece of shit.