The use of a lethal flamethrower during your daily commute. We’ve all considered it, of course, roasting up the fast-lane slowpoke into a billowing mass of burning flesh and red flames. But one man has actually made the vehicular-flamethrower application a reality, with his mild-mannered scooter shooting a stream of fire out its rear seat.
A quite effective deterrent to tailgating, indeed!
The device, described by some media outlets as an “anti-tailgating” measure, is the work of Englishman Colin Furze. While clearly a gag, the whimsical contraption has gotten the inventor in a real-life hot situation – with the UK’s
The Daily Telegraph reporting police arrested Furze for “suspicion of possessing an object converted into a firearm.” (
Flame-thrower Scooter Owner Arrested)
Funny enough, a flamethrower is not the first thing that comes to mind as a firearm, though it is perhaps the most accurate interpretation of the term!
Furze is credited with at least one other notable moto-related feat – building the world’s longest motorcycle, a 47-foot-long contraption created from two mopeds (check out the full story from our friends MCN -
World's Longest Motorcycle Record Broken) His unique curriculum vitae also includes the Guinness Book of World Records for largest bonfire, of all things. And when not indulging in his obvious fascination with pyromania, Furze is a stuntman, of sorts. A number of gags are recorded for posterity on
Furze's YouTube channel, including charging about his homemade wall of death on a small moped.
The latest fire-breathing-scooter stunt, however, might not end so funny. That same Daily Telegraph report states possession of a firearm in Britain carries a “maximum prison sentence of five to seven years at Crown Court.”
We hope when the Dear Mr. Furze gets thrown before the magistrate, the old fellow will pause under his silly-looking wig and adjudicate the matter with all the solemnity the case deserves. Please sir, don’t send Furze to Van Diemen’s land, or the gallows with the rest of the bread thieves and pickpockets! We want to see what two-wheeled malfeasance next springs from Furze’s mind.
