Massachusetts Police Stop Mazda With Massive Christmas Tree On Its Roof

Ah, the holidays. A time of peace, togetherness, understanding—and above all, making really bad decisions like strapping a Rockefeller Center-sized Christmas tree to the roof of the family car and heading out on the road.

Police in Sudbury, Massachusetts stopped this Mazda5 after somehow spotting it underneath the needles and branches of what looks like a fully mature douglas fir on Friday, the day when a lot of families first head out to get their tree for the season. The angle of the photo makes it hard to judge just how big it really is, but given how it dwarfs the 15-foot-long minivan, it appears no one told the driver that Christmas trees always look bigger indoors.

The Facebook post states that the department wants to remind everyone to haul your trees "responsibly" this holiday season, and it doesn't say whether the driver was cited. We sympathize with the plight of hauling an oversize load with a small vehicle, but the diminutive Mazda5 really isn't the right choice for some logging truck cosplay.

It's a funny sight, no doubt—insert obligatory Christmas Vacation reference here—but every year, improperly secured trees come flying off the roofs of cars and cause at least a few crashes between Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the AAA. To make it home without your holiday centerpiece turning into dangerous road debris, the association recommends using strong, quality rope, an appropriate vehicle, a light touch on the gas pedal, and lastly, some common sense.