16 February 2007: Keeping up-to-date

An elderly Swedish motorist discovered that he was not keeping up-to-date when he drove into the nearby town for the first time in more than 40 years. He discovered that cars in Sweden no longer drive on the left. The changeover was made in 1967 but he hadn't been to town since and the change had passed him by.

The man was in court on a charge of reckless driving, after he: backed into traffic coming in the opposite direction; knocked over a traffic light; and then failed to stop when pursued by a police car with sirens and flashing lights. To stop him police had to use a patrol car to cut him off in the middle of the road.

The man told the court he had got lost while taking his car in for a routine inspection.

NOTE: the use of the term 'up-to-date' in this item is a reference to the newsreader’s habit of ending the International News with a modified version of the official signoff, saying

“For the SaintFM newsdesk I’m John Turner; now you’re up-to-date”