Autoblog

Germany may still have a few stretches of autobahns unrestricted by speed limits, but local law enforcement stick rigidly to noise pollution regulations. That's what one student found out, the hard way, when he had his Ferrari impounded by police in Munich for producing too much noise: nearly 110.5 dBa, twelve and a half decibels over the 98 dBa limit.

The student happened to be 25-year-old Seif al-Arab, the second youngest of Libyan dictator Col. Muammar Gaddafi's seven sons. (Somewhat ironically, Seif's younger brother Khamis is himself a police officer in Libya.) Coughing up the fine, reported at ₤100, shouldn't be a problem for a student with a trust fund big enough to buy a Ferrari F430 in the first place, but he might have to play the diplomatic immunity card over a reportedly expired international driver's permit.

Uh, Baba? Can you send me some more cash and a new license?

[Source: Telegraph via Winding Road]

The state of California has taken a hard line against illegal street racing, the type of which has on occasion led to the death of innocent pedestrians and the racers themselves. They're employing a new deterrent to make these illegal racers think twice about competing on public roads – crushing the impounded cars of those caught street racing. This Fox News video clip (click this link to view) shows a local reporter present at the inaugural crush who appears a little too excited about the event compared to the disembodied anchorman whose voiceover we hear in the backgroiund. The tuned Honda Civic hatch is flattened quickly inside the crusher's jaws, the extreme pressure popping out its windows like eyeballs and some of the hatch's contents ejecting out the back like vomit. Fortunately, it looks like the aftermarket rims may have survived. The Ron Burgandy wannabe behind the desk says it best at the end exclaiming, "Half the guys in the studio are crying at what you just showed us."

[Source: Fox News via GMInsideNews]