A man has been banned from driving after using a bright pink toy car belonging to his friend’s daughter during the morning commute and will have to appear in court later in the year
A man whose driving licence had been suspended was stopped by police after he chose a pretty unusual vehicle to join the morning commute: a bright pink Barbie toy car.
He borrowed the toy car from his roommate’s daughter, and that the police have since returned the Power Wheels Barbie Jeep Wrangler to the little girl, rather than impounding it.
He was arrested for prohibited driving, slapped with a 90-day driving ban, and is scheduled to appear in court in December after two breathalyser tests saw him over the legal limit.
The man was spotted in the diminutive vehicle on 5 September at about 9am, when he was stopped by officers, who said he posed a risk to other road users and his own safety.
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Kasper Lincoln told the local news that he had been on his way to buy a slurpee and that he had only just got out of bed when he headed out in the Barbie jeep, without having any alcohol that morning.
“I didn’t think you could get a DUI in a Barbie truck,” he is reported as saying, adding that, “It’s not like it was a high-speed chase. I waited until it was safe, and when I crossed the road, I was doing my hand signals.”
However, the police had a different perspective on the matter when they stopped Lincoln at 15th Avenue and Nicholson Street in Prince George, British Columbia.
“While this may seem like something that should have flown under the radar, it was kind of out of the ordinary, as well as this is a busy area during morning commute and put other drivers on the road at risk, as well that particular driver himself,” police said.
“Motorists aren’t used to looking out for someone kind of at that level, the toy car level. So it was enough to start a traffic stop,” explained Jennifer Cooper, a media relations officer for the Prince George Royal Canadian Mounted Police, per Global News.
After stopping Lincoln during their regular morning patrol, police suspected he may have been under the influence, so they asked him to provide two breath samples, which both came back over the legal limit.
His licence was also suspended, and, technically, the Canadian law counts anything on the roads that isn’t entirely powered by your own muscles as a motor vehicle, so someone operating one needs a licence and insurance, meaning Lincoln was in breach of his suspended conditions.
They also pointed out that due to the speed and size of the Barbie jeep, other road users were forced to adapt their routes and move around Lincoln as he headed to buy his morning beverage, making his decision to drive the toy car an unsafe one.