Milk crates used as seats in death machine cars

Milk crates, buckets, seats held in place with chunks of wood — these are the dodgy cars Victorian drivers were risking their lives in, as police nab thousands of defective vehicles.

Some people try to do their own repairs to save money.

Dodgy drivers are risking their lives on Victoria’s roads by using milk crates and buckets as car seats, police have ­revealed.

Almost 10,000 penalties for dangerous and defective cars have been issued in the past three years as drivers put themselves and others in harm’s way.

Vehicles with seats propped up on timber slats were among those seized by police.

Others cars have been found with no airbags, broken seatbelts, cracked windscreens and potentially explosive fuel leaks.

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Centre For Road Policing Investigations senior instructor Jason Cassar slammed drivers for acts of “simple stupidity”.

This year 34 people have died on the state’s roads. Defects could be fatal in a crash.

Cars without proper seats for the driver.

This year, 34 people have died on the state’s roads, 11 more than at the same time last year — the deadliest start to a year for almost a decade.

Mr Cassar begged drivers to think twice about driving a dangerous car.

“Any defect — minor or major — could lead to a collision or loss of control of a ­vehicle,” he said.

Police figures shows 9493 infringements were issued for unroadworthy, unsafe or ­defective vehicles between July 2015 and June 2018.

Any defect can result in a deadly accident.

This steering wheel has fallen apart.

The front seat, held up with pieces of wood.

In that time, 197 penalties were issued for driving contrary to a major defect notice, and 173 for minor defects.

Images released by police show the shocking state of some of the cars nabbed.

Seats stripped of their padding, rimless or torn wheels, absent brakes and exposed parts can all be seen.

“We see a lot in rural areas where light trucks are neglected or driving around in an unsafe manner,” Mr Cassar said.

“Generally it’s vehicles driven by young people that tend to be prone to these safety-­related issues.”

Police released images of unroadworthy vehicles seized.

Parts with melted plastic.

Mr Cassar said milk crates, buckets and timber were among the “weird and wonderful” objects being used as seats.

“It’s simple stupidity,” he said.

“Some people also try to do their own repairs in an effort to save some money, but that does come at a trade-off where you compromise the safety of the vehicle.”

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@AneekaSimonis