Tara Monroe, dubbed the “Barbie jeep girl,” has been driving the tiny pink car across Texas State University’s campus after getting busted for a DWI.
Tara’s peculiar means of transportation dates back to her recent arrest for driving while intoxicated and refusing to take a breathalyser test after a concert. When her father, Monte Monroe, found out what she had done, he immediately drove to the campus and took her car, leaving her with only a bike to drive to class.
“I went and put my bike rack on my jeep and proceeded to drive to San Marcos,” Monte Monroe said. “And I told her, ‘The jeep’s mine. Here’s your bike. This is your new form of transportation.’”
Tara wasn’t particularly thrilled to be riding a bike, so she decided to make her first vehicle purchase. It just so happened that Craigslist had a rather affordable, $60 battery-powered Barbie jeep for sale, according to the Daily Caller .
Drink-driver swaps car for Barbie Jeep http://t.co/g7akptbR1u
— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) September 4, 2015
“I figured I’d hear back from her,” Monte said. “Well, I did hear back from her. She said, ‘Dad, I got a Barbie jeep.’ And she sent me a picture of her in the jeep.”
The caption of the photo read, “My dad took my car away because I got in trouble and so I went out and bought my first car.”
Tara’s sister Taylor described Tara as a “diva,” saying she doesn’t like to walk or sweat, and she wouldn’t be caught dead riding the bike. Taylor said she probably got the Barbie jeep idea from when they used to ride one around when they were kids.
Texas State student driving Barbie Jeep to school after DWI http://t.co/p5OOmL3TMi pic.twitter.com/49uICIQaA2
— WPTV (@WPTV) September 4, 2015
“I was in ninth grade, she was in eighth grade,” Taylor recalled, according to USA Today . “We’d do that all the time. We went through Starbucks drive throughs. The baristas there got a real kick out of that.”
Since Tara Monroe started driving her plastic car around Texas State’s campus, she has gotten more attention than she bargained for, with reporters asking for interviews and pictures of her going viral on social media.
“I don’t think she anticipated the publicity that would come from it,” Monte said. “But I’ve told her, I said, ‘Use this to be an example for other people not to make the same mistake so they won’t be where you are.’”
More photos of the Texas State University student Tara Monroe on her Pink Barbie Jeep after her license was suspended pic.twitter.com/E7MJiLr0nx
— 96.3 KSCS (@963kscs) September 4, 2015
What do you think about Tara Monroe’s Barbie jeep solution? Leave your comments below.
[Photo via Twitter]
