They flew to Edmonton and had to hire a car to drive a good 400 kilometres to Fort McMurry. The two set off in a blue Chevrolet Cavalier. They travelled a long and deserted stretch of road where they hardly met any cars. So the two car fans got a little braver and took the car up to 160 km/h – the speed limit was 100. When they realised that there were still hardly any cars on the road, they accelerated the car further and ended up driving as fast as the power of the little Chevrolet Cavalier would allow – without paying attention to the minimal oncoming traffic.
A lorry came towards them in the distance. What the two failed to see or know, however, was the police car that was driving directly behind the lorry and could also measure the speed of oncoming vehicles. Turning round, it pursued the hire car with its blue lights flashing in order to stop it. Florian Festge co-operated and pulled over immediately. But not without instructing his brother first: “Whatever I do, go with it!” When the officer came to the car door, Florian Festge tried the heaviest German accent he could find in himself - “Hello, Mr Offiser!”.
Although the two brothers had never told an untruth, they can be accused of concealing their language skills from the police officer. They talked with their hands and feet. The cop only seemed to accept this 100 per cent when they both showed him their German driving licences and laboriously explained that they work for the same company, which is Syncrude’s supplier. The policeman tried to make the two of them understand that the roads in Canada are not a German motorway and how dangerous their behaviour was. There could be moose on the road.
When the two pretended not to know what a “moose” was, the sheriff put his hands to his temples, opened all his fingers and gave himself an antler.
Thanks to the difficult conversation, the policeman waived the $280 fine and warned them to drive on to Syncrude at an appropriate speed. The two nodded to everything. They set off again, relieved and secretly smiling. Lucky again!
However, they swore not to deceive a law enforcement officer like that again. They’ll never forget the image of the “horned” official.
