A reckless driver was fined for a peculiar offense when a traffic camera captured his dog behind the wheel of a speeding vehicle.
The dog was spotted going above the speed limit in the Slovakian village of Šterusy last week. The incident amused Slovakian police, who shared the news on social media.
According to a translated Facebook post by the police, this is how the interaction with the K-9 driver played out: “MR. DOG, YOU EXCEEDED THE SPEED IN THE VILLAGE: YOUR DRIVING DOCUMENTS…” The dog responded, how only dogs can… in agitated barks.
What surprised the officers the most was that the photo captured by the radar showed the dog alone in the vehicle, with no human in sight.
The police described the photo in their post, saying, “Instead of a photo of the driver, a brown hunting dog was smiling beautifully into the camera, obediently sitting behind the wheel of a Škoda and peering through the windshield at promising young deer.”
Driver Claims That Dog Driving Car Was Just A Lapdog
When confronted by law enforcement, the 31-year-old driver claimed that the dog had jumped on his lap while he was driving.
However, the police could not observe any quick movement inside the vehicle when they looked at the footage.
The driver was immediately fined for traffic violations. The specifics of the fine, including the amount and whether it was related to speeding or transporting the dog improperly, were not disclosed in the press release.
It’s not the first time a dog driver has gotten into trouble behind the wheel. A large black Labrador alarmed the residents of a quiet cul-de-sac in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in 2019, when he jumped behind the wheel of his owners running car.
Dog Driving Car Does Donuts
Neighbor Anne Sabol initially believed that the silver car, which was erratically doing donuts in the neighborhood, was being driven by a learning student driver.
“At first I thought I saw somebody backing up, but then they kept going, and I’m like, ‘OK, what’re they doing?’” Sabol remarked.
DRIVING DOG: Florida officers encounter a strange scene: a car circling in reverse—with the owner's dog Max inside.
— ABC News (@ABC) November 22, 2019
Officers eventually manage to rescue Max by entering a code on the car door's keypad to stop the vehicle. https://t.co/89Clt0UVoe pic.twitter.com/8YlsRKwgSB
She soon realized that it was a pup, not a teenager behind the wheel. When the local police and fire department arrived on the scene, they watched the car spin in circles until it hit a mailbox and a few garbage cans, which slowed it down.
A police officer then opened the car door, and the black lab happily exited the still running vehicle, which he had been joyriding on his own for nearly an hour.
According to law enforcement, the dog’s owner had left the car running on the street, when his mischievous furry friend managed to get behind the wheel and change gears.
Sabol thinks that dog was a pretty decent driver, all things considered. “They should give that thing a license,” she told CNN.
