Young drivers do the craziest things.
Take 27-year-old Robert Bate, for example.
Bate faces 12 months in jail, a two year driving ban and grim prospects for young driver car insurance after he committed a string of driving offences that culminated in an 80mph car chase with police.
The three-mile pursuit ended when his Vauxhall Astra veered off the road near Hawthorn, County Durham and crashed through a fence. Bate, who tested positive for heroine and cocaine, came to rest in a farmer's field and was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Miraculously, neither of his two passengers were hurt.
So far, so crazy. But here's the kicker: Robert Bate has no legs.
In fact, the drugged-up double amputee was only able to drive the Astra because he had attached a couple of broom handles to the pedals.
Bate used to drive a mobility car with professionally installed hand controls, but after this was seized by police in 2002 he was compelled to jury-rig his own setup - using the aforementioned broom handles and gaffer tape.
His friends claimed Bate had made the alterations weeks before the chase, and that he had driven it successfully on at least 20 occasions.
"You were driving a vehicle which you yourself had, in a Heath Robinson sort of way, adapted to drive because of your disability," said Judge David Hodson at Newcastle Crown Court.
"It was a miracle no one else was injured."
Mike Page, spokesman for the young driver car insurance experts at Hoot, said: "What Bate did was obviously very wrong, but you can't help admiring his resourcefulness.
"He'll need to dig a little deeper if he's ever going to find a cheap car insurance quote again, though," he added.