Photo by NCinDC

This video has been getting some play today, but it’s really bothering us. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s footage shot yesterday of some nincompoop in a Volkswagen Passat driving through Logan Circle. Not around, but through.

In the beginning of the video, the car appears to be parked on the far side of the statue of Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, the commander of the Army of the Tennessee during the Civil War, and one of the key proponents of making Memorial Day a federal holiday. The driver gets out briefly, checks something in the trunk, and proceeds to drive off.

The car then delicately edges its way outside the fenced area and onto the sidewalk that rings the park inside the roundabout. Eventually, the driver makes his or her way back to the roadway, where he or she drives off.

Of course, the mystery of what was in the trunk is just one of the burning questions prompted by this scene. But more pertinent, perhaps, is why the driver needed to go through a traffic circle during midday on a holiday when the roads were already mostly empty. It’s not like it’s that much of a shortcut. The maneuver did not shave a few city blocks of some long commute. It’s a fucking circle! It’s supposed to be convenient and provide a steady flow for traffic, and you ruined it.

Or, hey, maybe it was some rogue math nerd. After all, by going the diameter instead of the circumference of a circle, the driver was able to shorten his or her journey by a factor of pi.