When something goes awry with your car, it's perfectly sensible to seek help from a local garage - though it's a good idea to make sure you can at least see before you set off.
However, a woman driver was stopped by police after she set off with her bonnet wide open, the Telegraph reports.
The 53-year-old was apparently peering through the small gap at the base of the windscreen - the only spot which wasn't obscured by the sheet of metal - as she drove through the seaside resort of Weymouth.
The unnamed motorist told police she was on her way to get the troublesome bonnet fixed when they pulled her over during Dorset's 'No Excuse' road safety initiative. Police have yet to decide whether to press charges.
A collaboration between police, councils, safety partnerships and emergency services, No Excuse is aiming to reduce the number of road deaths in Dorset.
Other ill-advised behaviour captured by police during the campaign has included a man steering with his elbows while rolling a cigarette; a driver who was using both hands to peel a banana; and a Ferrari which overtook an unmarked police car at 80mph in a 50mph zone.
Robert Smith, Dorset Road Safety manager, said: "Our partners in the police aren't having to look too hard to find examples of dangerous driving, from the bizarre to the truly terrifying."
And the curious incident of the unsecured bonnet calls to mind another spot of misguided driving in the West Country in January, when a pensioner was snapped peering through a tiny 'porthole' she had fashioned in the blanket of snow covering the windscreen.
