Man pays £3,000 to customise car, accidentally renders it useless
![Christopher Fitzgibbon, 23, dropped the height of his VW Passat to just four inches off the ground. [Photo: SWNS]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/pgLrdFSk2yg7akearSmsKg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD02Nzc-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/3507663d6925cf9633f800974da529c1)
A young driver has been accidentally exiled from his own village after new speed bumps were installed on every entry road.
Christopher Fitzgibbon, 23, lowered his VW Passat to just four inches off the ground in a bid to “look fresh”.
He was left unable to get into his village after council chiefs installed six-inch high speed bumps on the only three roads in and out of where he lives.
As a result, he has to travel an extra 600 miles a month to get to work.
![The speed bumps block the young man’s only three routes in and out of his village. [Photo: SWNS]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/tKcdC69fB0KUytRx9gBpdA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc4OA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/b4b52a5ca2b5d9f0b162e8751d277e6a)
On top of that, his car has suffered £2,000 worth of damage scraping its way over the traffic calming measures.
The car didn’t come cheap. In the past three years, Christopher has paid a whopping £13,000 to keep the VW Passat on the road, including £5,000 on one year’s insurance.
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He has approached the local council to pay for the damages, but they’ve refused.
He branded the speed bumps “absolutely ridiculous” and said he feels “discriminated against because he’s driving a modified car”.
“It doesn’t matter what speed I’m at either — I could be driving at 5km per hour or 80 km per hour and it wouldn’t make a difference.” He said.
He continued: “It’s four inches off the road — and I’m being denied my right to drive on these roads.”
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He bought the car for £2,500 in 2016 and spent an additional £3,000 lowering the suspension. He commutes each day to his maintenance job.
“I went to the council office where the road engineer is based — but I got nothing back but physical and verbal abuse and intimidation.
“The road engineer was so mad with me. He kept pushing me about, telling me I had no effing right to be here and who the eff was I to come in and complain.”
“I’ll never forget, he called me ‘frivolous’ and ‘vexatious’.”
Limerick City and County Council have said the have received “no other complaints in relation to them” and that “similar speed cushions were introduced in other areas of the county without issue”.
