"Smart" Car Tipping Fad Noted in Bay Area

Flipped "smart" car, Bay Area/April 2014
(Image: nbcbayarea.com)

The first time I spotted a so-called "smart" car, I thought it was a gag. The vehicle barely seated one person, and left precious little space for anything larger than a handbag. I had seen smart-car sized products when I lived in Italy. They were small then, and they weren't any larger in their Americanized, Selfie Generation iteration.

Owners of current smart cars might have to lock up their prized four-wheeled possession, if a recent northern California trend is a harbinger of things to come. According to a report from NBC Bay Area that was reposted in zerohedge.com, the intelligent vehicles have become the target of pranks in which the cars are flipped on their sides or on their roofs. Judging from photographs, the smart cars certainly look pretty stupid in their overturned condition.

The reason for smart car flip fever -- and the perps' identities -- are unknown at this time.