In the United Kingdom, opening a car door with the wrong hand can cost you up to 1,000 pounds ($1,350), the Mirror reported. The rule, which just went into effect, requires someone inside a car to open the door with the hand farthest from the door. In other words, if you were on the right side of the car, you would use your left hand to reach around and open the car door. The law, borrowed from the Netherlands, has a practical basis. The rule reads: "This will make you turn your head to look over your shoulder. You are then more likely to avoid causing injury to cyclists or motorcyclists passing you on the road, or to people on the pavement." Cycling UK estimates that more than 500 people are injured every year by car doors.
Tongue depressor
Cameron Newsom, 42, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was treated for Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma on her tongue in 2013, the New York Post reported. Removing the tumor meant also removing part of her tongue, which doctors replaced with skin and muscle from her thigh. "The weirdest part ... was when I felt a rough texture on the 'thigh' part of my tongue — and when I looked in the mirror, it had started growing leg hair," she said. Newsom had to learn to speak again and still finds eating a challenge, but she's back to being a gymnastics coach, even with her fuzzy tongue.
It's a living
Xavier Long, 20, of Yerkwood, Ala., has discovered a way to profit from human jealousy and insecurity, the Daily Mail reported. Suspicious partners pay Long to flirt on social media with their loved ones as a loyalty test. Long said he receives about 100 requests for help a day and charges a minimum of $10. If a woman he's paid to flirt with gives him any of her personal contact information, he considers her a "fail." "I'm helping people, so I feel like it's a good thing in a way," Long said. "Doing these tests has allowed me to stop working a 9-to-5 job."
Just rewards
Mayor Chen Qimai of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, has come up with a new punishment for people convicted of drunk driving in his community. Oddity Central reported that offenders have to clean funeral parlors to give them the experience of being close to death. In early January, 11 drunk drivers spent hours cleaning a mortuary, refrigeration unit and crematorium. "I had never been close to death, and it felt disturbing," one offender said. When they were finished, they reportedly expressed their deep remorse and said they wouldn't drive drunk again.
Mistaken identity
Police were called to investigate on Jan. 15 after a motorist in Ely, England, spotted what they believed were the sneakered feet of a dead person rolled up in a carpet in another car. A law enforcement spokesperson explained, however, that the feet belonged to "a mannequin dressed as Prince Charming who was on his way to a themed birthday! Thankfully, this was a false alarm." Metro News reported that the driver was advised to "avoid such circumstances occurring again."
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