It’s a kid, can we just leave it at that?
Queensland police are urging Australians to tone down their gender-reveal parties amid a growing trend toward using car “burnouts” to announce the good news.
The stunt involves hitting the gas and the brake on a car at the same time so the back tires spin on the spot, generating large clouds of smoke from the friction. Special tires can be purchased to release pink or blue smoke, depending on the gender.
Police released video of one of these stunts gone wrong from last year in hopes of discouraging others from doing the same. Their message is simple: don’t earn daddy a criminal record before baby arrives.
In the video, a black 2017 Holden Senator sedan conducts a burnout in front of several onlookers, kicking up a huge cloud of blue smoke. The stunt goes awry after about 50 seconds, when the tires completely catch fire.
The video shows yellow flames erupting from the back wheels of the car. Onlookers rush into the cloud of blue smoke to help the driver and passenger escape.
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The incident was captured from a drone camera on Apr. 18, 2018. The 29-year-old man behind the wheel was later convicted on one count of dangerous operation of a car.
Police say they’ve responded to several cases of vehicles catching fire due to gender-reveal burnouts. They’ve also arrested multiple people in connection with these activities.
A separate gender-reveal stunt triggered a major wildfire in Arizona in April 2017. The father-to-be set off an explosive package filled with blue power, scattering powder and flames around a tinder-dry grass field. The grass caught fire and the flames quickly spread across the area.
The wildfire burned across 182 square kilometres of land and caused an estimated US$8 million in damage near Green Valley, Ariz.
WATCH: Gender reveal explosion triggers wildfire in Arizona
The dad was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $8,188,069 in restitution for the damage he caused over several years. He was also ordered to publicly announce that he caused the fire.
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