No hood, no door, no problem.

San Jose resident Marcus Rodriguez had an interesting commute home a couple of weeks ago. As he was he driving down the 101 near the Tully Road exit in San Jose, he couldn’t help but shake his head and whip out a phone at the car traveling in the slow lane. A Mercury Cougar convertible owner was caught limping home with his hood fully 100 percent open, the only sliver of visibility the driver had being the tiny gap between the top of the hood and the engine bay.

Check out the smartphone footage for yourself below.

The 101 is a major multi-lane freeway in the heart of Silicon Valley. With a 65 MPH speed limit and cars whizzing by at all speeds, this freeway isn’t for cars not in tip-top shape.

But, this Cougar convertible owner was obviously taking a calculated, albeit dangerous risk by driving with his hood open. Not only that, this dude doesn’t even have a door, not to mention no seatbelt in sight.

In California, driving with an obstructed window is grounds for a traffic violation, carrying, at most, a $100 fine.

In addition, operating a vehicle deemed unsafe is a separate issue altogether that carries up to a $238 fine, one point on your record, and, if necessary, calling a tow truck to get your vehicle where it needs to go, safely.

Finally, no seatbelt is another cool $162 fine.

This Cougar’s driving just fast enough where aerodynamics don’t take over, flipping his hood onto his windshield, possibly injuring the owner and causing a larger chain-reaction accident.

As those who have mentioned in the comments, there aren’t even any straps or bungee cords to ensure that, in the event the hood flies off its hinges, it won’t fly off the car onto some innocent driver.

This was irresponsible of the driver, putting himself and other people’s lives at risk. But, I have an inkling he doesn’t really care.

Hopefully police caught up to him further down the road.

If you’ve got to drive with a hood that can’t close, at least strap it down and avoid the freeway, otherwise, don’t drive at all.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here