Polite Chinese motorist hatches insurance plan to stop friends borrowing his luxury car
Wary of refusing his pals, car owner comes up with unusual way to ensure they don’t want to take his SUV for a spin
A motorist in central China stopped his friends from asking to borrow his luxury car by refusing to fully insure the vehicle, according to a local media report.
A traffic police officer discovered the Land Rover SUV was uninsured after he was called to a toll collection point on the Sanxia Fanba highway in Yichang, Hubei province on Monday morning.
A blown tyre had caused the SUV to overturn nearby, resulting in extensive damage to the vehicle, Shanghai news portal Thepaper.cn reported.
Gridlock on China roads after frustrated driver tampers with ‘slow’ traffic lights
A check of the man’s papers revealed he was indeed the owner and a breath test confirmed he was not drink-driving.
The owner said he bought the car a couple of years ago for 1.2 million yuan (US$182,000) and was constantly bugged by friends wanting to take the car for a spin.
Reluctant to refuse them directly, he decided not to buy any insurance apart from third-party coverage in the hope that the cost of repairing the vehicle in the event of an accident would scare them away.
The tactic proved successful, with fewer people asking to take the car for a drive, he said.
Meanwhile, the repairs from Monday’s crash would set him back more than 100,000 yuan, a price he was willing to pay for a bit of peace and quiet.
