A Chinese highway operator has been fined $150,000 in a cheap car insurance claims after the antics of an escaped pig landed six people in hospital.
The six, travelling together from Harbin to Daqing in the Heilongjiang province, were rammed head-first into a crash barrier after the driver swerved to avoid the swine.
"As the vehicle approached Zhaodong city, the driver saw a pig loom up in front of him," said a representative from the Xinhua news agency.
"To avoid collision, he ploughed into a road barrier," he added, apparently without irony. All six passengers were injured in the collision, one seriously.
First choice for the blame (and a string of bankrupting motor insurance claims) was the driver - but the passengers' car insurance firms ended up taking the toll company to court once they realised it was responsible for "ensuring that the freeway is safe and free from obstacles".
Magistrates found in favour of the cheap car insurance firms and endorsed the staggering $150,000 sum they were demanding in compensation.
The fate of the pig was not recorded.