[imagesource: Twitter/@rsa_trucker]

Shame, tourists can get themselves into some unfortunate situations when they travel to new and unknown countries.

Exhibit A or B, for example.

They may get shortchanged because they’re not used to the currency, or they could get lost because they don’t know the landmarks, and some might even sink their car… because the handbrake system could be different?

Who knows how this American tourist let his rental car casually roll into the water at Hermanus’ New Harbour last Friday, which had every single one of his valuables inside, but he did, somehow.

CCTV at Neptune’s Divers and Cruises caught the whole palaver on video while the aforementioned tourist was picking up his diving gear that he’d left overnight to dry.

I guess he had to leave his car and all his belongings to dry over that night, too.

Here’s more from TimesLIVE:

Marx Mohr of Neptune’s Divers and Cruises said the tourist’s “entire life” was in the car.

“He was about to start a nine-month trip through Africa so there were laptops, cameras, everything in the car,” he said.

“Everything’s buggered.”

That’s really not how you want to start a nine-month trip.

Coincidentally, the car sunk right near a crane, which was used to lift the car out of the water that it spent half the day in, waiting for all the insurance matters to be sorted.

Car seized this rare opportunity of a sea dive after owner forgot to put on the handbrake at Hermanus harbour pic.twitter.com/PQY8lfQyxQ

— SA Trucker (@rsa_trucker) April 9, 2021

Mohr says that he’s only helped save two cars from the water so far, as the slipways are slippery with seaweed, but it’s the first time a car has driven itself off of the actual jetty.

Here’s the CCTV footage:

Casual.

[source:timelive]