Dodging Traffic: Man Creates A Road Legal Bumper Car
THIS is one car that can dodge traffic - as it is a street-legal DODGEM. The purple vehicle, which looks more at home at a funfair than on the roads, is a fully converted bumper car that runs on petrol. And its owner, 69-year-old Tom Evans, is more than capable handling the unusual motor as he used to run a fairground. The tiny car has working lights, indicators, a petrol gauge and even a tax disc to prove its legality to incredulous onlookers. His wife and two sons bought the dodgem car for the young-at-heart driver two years ago.
Transcript
00:00 00:32 COMM: This is one car that will turn heads
00:05 on the road, as it looks to be more at home in a fairground.
00:10 Sixty-nine year old Tom Evans from Glasgow used to run a fun fair before handing the
00:15 reins of the business over to his son.
00:18 But when he spotted a Dodgem car on an auction site, he couldn't resist the memento.
00:22 00:46 TOM EVANS: The reason I wanted it was because
00:25 it looks like a Dodgem car, and that's what our family runs, Dodgems.
00:29 So, I could not pass it up.
00:39 It was advertising for sale and we thought, "Oh, very nice."
00:42 And we kept looking for a couple of days, then all of a sudden it went off and we thought,
00:46 "Oh, someone must have bought it."
00:48 00:59 COMM: In fact, Tom's wife had bought the Dodgem
00:51 car without him knowing, and surprised him with his bumper gift for Christmas in 2013.
00:56 01:06 TOM EVANS The two boys and my wife went down to North
01:00 Urnland and haggled with the man that had it, agreed the price and fetched it home.
01:04 It was stored for about four months, five months before Christmas.
01:08 Obviously, I didn't get it till Christmas.
01:11 It's been neglected over the years and when we got it, couldn't use it on the road because
01:16 it wasn't tested.
01:17 It had a handbrake, but no foot brake and the lights didn't work and things like that.
01:21 So, we took it into a place in Glasgow and they went through it, they had it for months
01:25 because trying to find the parts.
01:27 01:37 COMM: The street legal bumper car has all the
01:31 necessary paperwork and fittings for the road.
01:34 It can run up to 75 miles per hour, has indicator lights, a petrol gauge and turns heads wherever
01:40 it goes, including the police.
01:42 01:49 TOM EVANS We've been on the road about five minutes
01:45 and we got stopped by the police and they wanted to know what the hell is it.
01:49 And we had to take the documents down to the police station.
01:53 And they all came out of the police station to have a look and they thought, this is unbelievable.
01:57 02:06 TOM EVANS Very clever, what a great novel idea, eh?
02:03 Have a dodgem on the high street.
02:05 02:13 KID It's quite cool because the buns in here
02:09 are not as usual as in normal cars.
02:12 02:19 COMM: But this is one bumper car that Tom
02:14 hopes won't be in a bus stop.
02:16 02:23 TOM EVANS You'll never see another one like it, I
02:19 don't think.
02:20 When they do stop, they think, what the hell is that?
02:23 Because it is an eye-catcher.
02:24 It's a good one.
02:24 END
02:33 (bell chimes)
02:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]