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Man traverses frozen river to avoid road toll

And the stingiest driver award goes to…

We’ve all gone to extreme lengths to save a few quid at some point in our lives, but probably not to the extent of one particular man who was caught on camera taking what must be one of the most dangerous shortcuts ever.

Image: HAP/Quirky China News/REX
Image: HAP/Quirky China News/REX

Rather than pay up 5 to ten yuan (about 50p to £1) to use the nearby toll bridge, the anonymous motorist decided to drive across the 1km expanse of ice that is the Yellow River in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, taking thriftiness to new heights.

Reports say the onlookers who captured the event on film gasped whenever the ice creaked under the weight of the car over the ten minute period it took to complete the icy journey. The driver took it slow at first, but sped up after upon realising he might actually make it home alive.

Why the driver made the journey is unclear. One theory suggests poverty could be to blame. The Kangbashi New Area of Ordos is, after all, said to be the most famous ghost town in China and a stark reminder of when the housing bubble burst.

The new district was built to house 1 million people, but reports say only a few thousand live there, with many locals preferring to live in the old disctict because it’s more convenient.

The Yellow River is named so because it collects rich silt that has minerals of a golden colour. Temperatures are said to rarely go above sub-zero.

A total nutter or so poor he would risk life and limb for a few pence? You decide. We’re just glad he didn’t end up freezing to death in a silver car at the bottom of a river.

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