A Lithuania mayor is tough on crime: Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas is making clear how he feels about rude people who park luxury cars like Mercedes on his city streets: The mayor speaks straight from the heart--and breaks the heart of car lovers while rolling over a new Mercedes using a military tank that crushes the car. The mayor would like bike lanes utilized.
That soul-crushing, and Mercedes-crushing, demonstration took place in Vilnius -- by a in Lithuania who's making the point that certain illegal activities won't be turning his city to one of crime. Mayor Arturas Zuokas wants people to know there's better places to park than illegally blocking the capital city's historic streets. Or the bike lanes.
"What should the city do about drivers who think that they are above the law?," asks the Vilnius mayor. "It seems that a tank is the best solution."
Mayor Arturas Zuokas revved up a tank and charged a video camera to run over and completely crush a blue Mercedes that was parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. While illegal parking is not a huge problem throughout the city, parking illegally in Vilnius' main streets holds a strict ban. And those are the areas where some, at least, insist on leaving behind unmanned vehicles. Nice ones. Like Rolls Royces and Mercedes.
In case anyone wasn't aware, Lithuania's Mayor of Vilnius -- Arturas Zuokas -- is a big proponent of alternative transportation. Tanks aren't his typical vehicle of preference: Zuokas has installed bike lane throughout the city. While he may roll in driving a tank, his video exit is by motorized bike -- proving that bike lane now free.
The Lithuania mayor's got a sense of humor. The tank-meets-Mercedes scenario and widely publicized video was a stunt to make a point. But it wasn't a fake Mercedes -- the car crushed just wasn't owned by a city resident. And the mayor's also serious: Don't trust the Eastern European mayor won't roll in that tank again -- or bring his own pick-ax. The mayor in Lithuania is ticked about the illegally parked luxury cars and sense of entitlement that's been displayed by local drivers. It seems there's been some disrespecting of the rules -- which in turn disrespects those bike lanes the mayor, now in his third term, had specially installed for Vilnius city residents to enjoy. Those gorgeous lanes can't be enjoyed while illegally parked cars render those lanes for bicyclists unusable.
Car lovers take a breath -- it could've been a Rolls Royce.
The mayor wants the tank to convey his message about illegally parked cars "loud and clear," says a rep out of his office. Arturas Zuokas "will not tolerate brazen and disrespectful behavior by drivers who disobey parking rules." And the mayor is not a man to be messed with. Zuokas' rep's statement: "The [Vilnius] mayor hopes that he will not have to repeat his performance to have [Lithuania] drivers heed his message, although he says that he is prepared to do so."
Still riding on the tank, pointing to the wreckage, a crouching Mayor Arturas Zuokas jabs a finger at the totaled Mercedes while telling the video camera quite clearly: "That's what will happen if you park your car illegally!" Vilnius visitors: Consider yourself warned. The Lithuania mayor doesn't seem to be expressing any doubt about what will happen to illegally parked cars in the future.