Cows in the San Francisco area will be sleeping better at night since, for the last few days, gangs of angry internal combustion engine-likers have taken to a new trend - Smart car tipping. NBC Bay Area found four of the targeted Smart cars between Sunday night and Monday morning. "Whoever is doing this just has misdirected anger," noted one upset owner, as another witness joked, they reminded him of little dogs: "They look like they are dachshunds sitting up on their hind legs." The exact motives behind the vandalism are unclear, as a parody Facebook page was set up called "Smart Car Tipping" by a creator who does not "practice, promote or condone Smart Car Tipping,' and another site called the Smart Car tippers, "heroes." At a price starting at $13,000 for the tiny cars, perhaps it is the relative cost-benefits that the vandals are considering.
This is not an entirely new occurrence - here is a 2011 "tipping"
And NBC Bay Area covering the latest rash of Smart Car tipping...
As NBC Bay Area reports [4],
Someone's been vandalizing compact Smart cars in San Francisco, flipping the tiny vehicles on their front and rear ends in the city's streets
...
"Whoever is doing this just has misdirected anger," Gallivan said.
San Francisco Police Officer Gordon Shyy said the suspects are still at large and will face felony vandalism charges if they are caught. Police do have an eye witness account to work from.
Brandon Michael was out having a cigarette about 1 a.m. Monday when he spotted about six to eight people wearing hooded sweatshirts flip over the cars.
"They looked like they were up to no good," Michael said. "And sure enough, they huddled around it and lifted it up."
And the vandalized cars? Michael said they reminded him of little dogs: "They look like they are dachshunds sitting up on their hind legs."
...
The exact motives behind the vandalism are unclear. The diminutive cars are smaller and lighter than most vehicles. A Smart car weighs about 1,500 pounds; a Ford Focus S Sedan weighs close to 3,000 pounds, and a Hummer clocks in at 8,600 pounds -- definitely a heft that would pose a flipping challenge.
...
One website, however, seemed to be cheering on the tipping. TotalFratMove.com called the Smart car tippers "heroes" and described the cars as "teensy little wheeled boxes."
The morning after...
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
Not so "Smart" cars...