There is a public menace on the streets of Perth, Australia: two motorized picnic tables. Police are looking for the drivers of the, erm, vehicles, which were seen cruising down the West Coast Highway, complete with passenger casually sitting on the tables having a drink. It looks like the two picnic tables are being driven by a centrally mounted lawnmower motor and are controlled from one of the seats. The police are interested because it is illegal to drive something on the public road in Australia that isn’t properly licensed. I’ll bet that his insurance probably doesn’t cover taking it out for a spin on the highway, either. The accompanying TV news report does not identify the person responsible, but they claim have spoken to the builder, who says that the two tables can manage up to 50 miles per hour. They claim that he is even working on an upgraded model that includes a built-in barbecue, which could bring a whole new meaning to the term drive-thru.
This appears to be based on something from the netherlands/belgium; http://biervat.blogspot.nl/2015/04/bierfietsen.html
Such drink tables cruise also Budapest in Hungary and I believe more other cities over the EU.
They drive in Berlin also, and Americans love it (facepalm)
The ones in the picture are pedal-powered, not motorized. They can be found in the US as well.
The ones here in Raleigh, NC have a well hidden electric motor and lithium-ion batteries in addition to the pedals.
Did you even watch the video? These are shown there…
interesting ..but..not quite safe ..
I don’t think safety was even considered in the process of building these.
Sometimes you just gotta live on the edge.
So many things could go wrong if there were an accident. Now adding motorized picnic tables to the what-can-kill-you-in-Australia list.
Splinters. That’s all I can think about.
Ow!
Plastic boards?
I was thinking the other kind of T-bone at the intersection, but didn’t want to make a bad punt.
There is a companion vehicle well established in Australia, probably quite necessary for the efficient utilisation of the motorised picnic table, and equally legal…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/esky-rider-drunk-cooler-mcdonalds
Aussie terrorists. Next thing you know there’ll be barbie attacks! “The place looked like a war zone with sauce all over everybody!”
50 Kilometers/hour and “50 miles per hour” are two very different things.
Yeah, I was baffled at that 50 mph figure. Still, 50 kph is roughly 30 mph which is faster than I would be comfortable riding on a bench.
Have another beer, it will all seem like a very good idea then…
There some good pics of the design in an old advert they had up. Now they’re internet famous someone managed to dig it up.
http://web.archive.org/web/20140409145456/http:/www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/perth-region/motorcycles/250cc-picnic-table/1043341771
Ah, I heard it change gears and thought “that’s no lawn mower engine”. It’s being steered from the back. Probably easier that way for the weight distribution.
Don’t the Perth cops have anything better to do than to bust people for silly stuff like this? Have they run out of drug dealers to chase down?
Apparently.
In Australia, the police generally try to keep people safe. That includes from the public’s own stupidity.
It may actually be legal, depending on the motor’s power. Very low power vehicles are considered in the same class as bicycles, mobility scooters etc and don’t need to be registered nor registerable so don’t have to meet motor vehicle standards. They must still obey traffic laws.
Anyone want a quick meal?…..
That’s fast food for sure!
I was in a taxi when the guy came on the radio station talking to the hosts. Bottom line in aus its illegal 100% (unregistered un roadworthy powered vehicle), the cops gave him a warning at the time and then later when it went public started looking for him. He is a kiwi, it was i think his third build.. he has made some at home and the fellas cruise round to the drift circuit to watch (not drift;)). The driver wasnt drinking but his mates were. Top speed 50klms per hr. I didnt recall him mentioning a bbq upgrade or picnic umbrella mod…