Every licensed driver probably has a couple driving stories they’ll remember for the rest of their lives, for better or worse. In a given year, there are somewhere near 6 million car accidents in the United States and traffic violations innumerable. Safe, responsible driving takes place the majority of the time, but accidents do happen. Other times, Florida happens.
Police pulled over Florida man Don Swartz earlier this month for speeding in a residential area of Bedrock. Or was it Don Swartz? Dressed from head to toe as Fred Flintstone, Swartz was driving his Smartcar that was completely customized and decorated to be Fred Flintstone’s foot-powered vehicle from the cartoon. The attention to detail on the car was admittedly impressive, as was the sheer dedication to the costume as a whole, but Swartz wasn’t going to be driving away from this one so easily.
He was cited for speeding and, barefoot whilst fully in costume, became unruly enough with such paleolithic policing that he had to be detained. They released him later when he calmed down and was ordered to appear in court on a later date. Naturally, they had to get a few pictures, because it’s a really well done costume for a car.
The police department seemed pretty cool about it and even gave the Swartz family a shoutout after the incident concluded, using the opportunity to make a little tongue-in-cheek PSA to the community about driving safely. As for the car itself, about 77% of vehicles are in general need of repairs and maintenance, and Swartz’s vehicle was no exception and was definitely not roadworthy. Lacking doors and generally being a safety nightmare — albeit a well-dressed one — the police seized it. It makes a little more sense as to why he got unruly in the first place.
“Deputy Echevarria then seized the vehicle which is now part of the PSO fleet. This is what Intelligence-Led Policing looked like in the stone age. A very special thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Don and Trina Swartz for being such great sports… Yabba Dabba Doo!” the Sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
In the end, everything was done in good fun, but a valuable lesson still remains: Yabba Dabba Don’t speed out there, kids!
