Australia often presents itself as a laid-back place for larrikins, following the principle of "she will be right, man". Reality is always completely different, and a society obsessed with rules is always ready to fight fun. A perfect example is the recent efforts of the Victoria Police, who seized a mobile cooler this week. 

The police claimed to have observed a 25-year-old male riding a “motorized esky” on the sidewalk in the rural town of Kerang, about 280 kilometers northwest of Melbourne. The police "intercepted" the man, who reportedly never held a driver's license. The cooler is classified as an unregistered motor vehicle, and the person will be summoned to court for the crime of driving an "illegal" car without a license.

It is worth noting that the man had a negative breath test on the roadside, but the police detained the vehicle for 30 days. It is interesting to see a small cooler behind the local trailer, and perhaps the best thing in this story. 

The police Facebook post cited a regulation on "motorized personal mobile devices", which mainly involved Segways, hoverboards and other self-balancing devices. Victoria has similar regulations for scooters. All electric scooters are prohibited from driving on roads and sidewalks unless their maximum speed is less than 10 kilometers per hour and the power does not exceed 200 watts. 

However, neither of these two definitions accurately describe the four-wheel gasoline-powered cooler, which runs a small Lifan 2.5 horsepower engine. However, according to Victorian legislation, since the cooler does not fall into special exempt categories like low-power scooters and electric bicycles, it is classified as a motor vehicle. Therefore, it is illegal to use coolers on sidewalks. However, it cannot be used on the road because it does not comply with the Australian Design Rules (ADR) and lacks lights, mirrors and road registration. 

Therefore, because of the heinous crime of riding Esky on the sidewalk, a young Australian was involved in the court system. This may not sound like the Australian way, but as someone who has lived here for decades, I can assure you that it has always been like this. The countries where smoko and sickie were invented are also places where you can be fined for drinking beer on the beach.

Given that no one was harmed in the "incident," questions may be raised around the time and resources spent enforcing these laws. Others will argue that such regulations are necessary to avoid turning our sidewalks into race tracks. Either way, a 25-year-old young man seemed to pay a high price for a cruise ship that went to the store in the afternoon.   

Are there any hints? Let the author know: lewin@thedrive.com

Sign up for our newsletter

Send technology, performance and design to your inbox.

© Brookline Media Inc. All rights reserved.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that aims to provide us with a way to earn money by linking to Amazon.com and affiliate sites.