People who live in some of the more rural parts of the country are the subject of similar stereotypes and jokes, including those involving suspicion of outsiders, fear/ignorance of anything invented after the second world war, inbreeding, sexual relations with livestock, adherence to weird and unholy cults, and a reckless approach to road safety. Some of these are completely unfair, others not so much: as well as this story, see local drivers’ approach to navigating south Devon’s single-track roads, especially w/r/t blind bends.
Also, firearms: having assumed we lived in a more-or-less gun-free country, I was shocked to see a man walking through a village in the Forest of Dean with a rifle casually slung over his shoulder. Also see Hot Fuzz:
The whole marsh county of Norfolk has a reputation for, you know, very close-knit families. Like, this car was probably adapted for someone with webbed legs and trotters for hands.
…except that neither an F1 wheel or a knob on the wheel are likely to slip loose if given a reasonably hard yank at an odd angle. And at least with the knob, you can then grab the wheel itself if it should break. I’d like to see you do that with the steering column alone.
He is from Norfolk. There was an apocryphal (but not very) set of initials found in local medical files (and also, I once heard, in the HR files of interviewees for jobs at what used to be the county’s famous insurance company) - NFN. Which stood for ‘Normal For Norfolk’. This guy is apparently normal.
I once had a Mini (original, not BMW) that did not need the clutch to change gear - just match the revs and shove it in. It did make a nasty noise if I mismatched the revs, but after a few goes it became second nature.
ANY manual transmission can do this, assuming you have a bit of skill, good knowledge of your vehicle, and willingness to repair your tranny, soon enough. It’s called “speed shifting” or “slap shifting” (often confused with “power shifting”).
I’ve never tried it on a modern car with syncromesh - the mini had an old-fashioned crash gearbox I believe - but then again IANAM (mechanic) nor mechanically minded.
If you’re asking “is there a specific UK law which bans someone from using a pair of vice grips as a steering wheel?” then no, probably not. On the other hand there is a specific offence of ‘Using vehicle in dangerous condition etc.’
A person is guilty of an offence if he uses, or causes or permits another to use, a motor vehicle or trailer on a road when—
(a)the condition of the motor vehicle or trailer, or of its accessories or equipment, or
(b)the purpose for which it is used, or
( c)the number of passengers carried by it, or the manner in which they are carried, or
(d)the weight, position or distribution of its load, or the manner in which it is secured,
is such that the use of the motor vehicle or trailer involves a danger of injury to any person.
Depending on how much he pissed off the cops, they might also do him for dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and possibly driving without tax.
And yes, this is basically up to the cops to decide (and then the CPS to decide to prosecute).
