Model A Driver Stages Pothole Protest

GARDNER, MA— Potholes are a problem for motorists, but there is a time and a place to make a complaint...and when your Model A is blocking traffic, may not be the time, or the place.

Gardner Police Officer Richard A. Braks almost had to order a 1931 Model A Ford car towed recently, after the owner refused to move it because he wanted to complain about a pothole.

Officer Braks received a call to investigate several reports of a Model A Ford broken down in the middle of the road. Considering the age of the vehicle, the assumption was reasonable that it was broken down, but that was not the case.

When the officer arrived, the driver of the car walked over to him and told him to get out of his cruiser. The man wanted the officer to investigate a pothole that the 77-year-old vehicle had hit.

According to the unidentified man, the pothole was not marked properly.

Officer Braks told the man he was not getting out of his cruiser, but the old Ford had to be moved. It was blocking parts of two lanes and creating a hazard for motorists heading in both directions.

Unwilling to yield to the long-arm-of-the-law, the driver of the Model A refused stating that he was not going to move the car until the officer investigated the pothole.

Officer Braks was there to deal with the problem of the car obstructing traffic, but said he was also willing to listen, if the driver met him halfway.

“I would have been happy to talk with him about potholes if he moved the car out of the road,” Officer Braks said.

But the man was not willing to move.

He was then told by the police officer that the antique car would be towed if he did not get it out of the way.

At that point the man returned to his car, got in, and drove away.

According to local news reports, the pothole remains.