Gov'ment Tells Dutch To Clean Their Cars

If you sell cargo nets and bungee cords in the Netherlands, your ship just came in. The Dutch Secretary of Transportation, Karla Peijs, has decreed that loose objects are no longer allowed in Dutch cars, as everything that isn't tied down might become a projectile in the event of a crash. So starting next January, drivers unlucky enough to be caught with an open glove compartment, a handbag on the floor, or an unsecured road atlas on the backseat, will face hefty fines.

And because sudden sneezing spells also pose a traffic-safety risk, next year Peijs will undoubtedly legislate the maximum allowable number of dust particles in Dutch cars, delighting vacuum-cleaner salesmen everywhere.
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UPDATE, with thanks to Arjan: Some Dutch parliamentarians are less than pleased with the new law, and may in fact manage to shoot it down. One of them said he briefly thought the Transportation Secretary was playing an April Fools' joke; another wondered if drivers would still be allowed to carry an apple without tying it down. Talk about forbidden fruit! Notes The Modern American: "I would be guilty on several hundred counts on this proposed law if they ever enacted it here." You and me and a hundred million other people, buddy.

Comments

[Arjan Dasselaar]

Thankfully, Mrs Peijs will most likely have to withdraw her proposal after some rather scathing reactions from Parliament. http://autotelegraaf.nl/vanonzeredactie/?id=36889