It appears that a new act of vandalism is taking Amsterdam by storm. As smaller and smaller fuel-efficient vehicles are introduced, some are becoming the target of a rather odd prank: being tossed into the Amsterdam canals. As local newpaper De Telegraaf reports, the phenomenon appears to focus on the SMART brand, because the cars are light enough to be lifted over guardrails and deposited in the canals throughout the city. As a result, the activity has been termed “SMART tossing” (see the original article at DutchAmsterdam.nl: “Amsterdam craze: tossing Smart cars into the canals.“).
As the push towards ever-more-fuel-efficient vehicles continues, might this bizarre form of vandalism do the same? SMART has already released its “smart fortwo” models in the US, but I haven’t heard of anything like this being reported here in the States. Perhaps we don’t have enough canals. Now that the story made it to NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, maybe it’s just a matter of time until some NPR-listening hooligan tosses his neighbors SMART car into a pond.
Owners of small cars beware!