LONDONERS may be used to seeing abandoned bikes and scooters but the sight of an electric hire car left in the middle of a busy junction has caused a stir.
Fulham residents were left bemused on Monday as an electric Zipcar sat abandoned in the middle of a busy road in Fulham, London,
Zipcar UK, based in England, is a car rental company that has seen a steady growth in popularity over the last 22 years, averaging approximately 250,000 paying members.
The sharing cab company also boasts of having now become available for use in over 10 London boroughs, where it has now become more popular to rent an electric car to help reduce emissions and fuel costs.
Footage can be seen of the Volkswagen sat stationary on yellow zigzag lines at the corner of North End Road and Lillie Road, Fulham, with amber headlights flashing and an idle boot left open.
Passers-by can also be seen displaying a very typically British response as they reservedly watch in amusement at the rentable vehicle sat at the major disjunction and disrupting the heavy flow of traffic at 6.30pm, during rush hour, including a red bus that is forced to move around the car as it turns into the road.
Cyclist Liam Angell captured the unexplained event while cycling home from work, and can be heard saying: “So, I’m on my bike, North End Road, Fulham and some clown has left their Zipcar in the middle of the road.
“So, traffic is coming from down there, cars are having to manoeuvre around it. I don’t know what the hell is going on.”
The 36-year-old videographer shared his shock on social media stating: “Didn’t realise abandoning a Zipcar in the middle of the road was an option! Nobody tried to move it, everyone went the typically British way of just going around it.”
The post received 139 likes, 1 share and 31 commenters sharing their suspicion and amusement at seeing the abandoned car.
Tána Máire Ó Dochartaigh commented: “They probably broke down or ran out of fuel…and I know London, nobody will stop and help them push it off to the side.”
Stephen Bell added: “To be fair, it does look like a crime scene… so I would be hesitant about pushing it if the operators weren’t on site. I would call the police but, more likely, some penny pinching car renter didn’t want to put a couple of quid in the tank to get it to a Zipcar parking spot.”
Mark Fountain said: “When your 3 hour rental is up, and you can’t afford to extend it…”
Speaking today (TUE), Liam said: “Basically, I was on my way home (cycling) after work and I came to the junction of North End Road and Lillie Road in Fulham. The traffic was a bit slow, and I thought to myself ‘what’s going on here, why is traffic moving so slowly, it can’t be due to the rain’.
“Then, I saw the Zipcar in the middle of the road and thought to myself ‘what is this blocking the road, is this a joke?’ As I got closer, I realised nobody was in the car and it made me chuckle, so I thought, let me get a better view.
“Then, the videographer/journalistic side of me took over and thought ‘let me get this on video as nobody would believe me if I told them this was the case – even I would think it was a prank’.
“I see abandoned lime and human forest bikes on a daily basis but didn’t think that was an option for a Zipcar, especially at a busy crossroads in Fulham at 6.30pm.”
