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By Rachael O'Connor
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A Reddit user has gone viral after sharing a photo on the platform along with a question: "What's the purpose of this?"
On February 20, David Di Franco, 39, who posts under the username /u/daviddifrancojr took to the /r/Weird subreddit to post the photo, which showed a parked car with a pair of white sneakers wedged between the tire of the vehicle.
According to the user, the scene was "found outside the post office."
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Di Franco, a full-time YouTuber, told Newsweek: "I was going to the post office, as I usually do as an eBay seller, to drop off some packages—when I looked to my right and noticed a pair of sneakers sitting on top of a car tire.
"I didn't really know what to think of it, but I do recall the r/weird subreddit instantly coming to mind. I don't typically post on Reddit, I'm more of a reader, but I figured why not post it?"
And it proved the right choice, because, simple as the post was, it has received significant attention, racking up more than 15,000 upvotes and 2,000 comments. Redditors came out in droves to try to figure out why someone would place their shoes in the unusual spot.
"Probably stinky shoes. Don't want them in the closed car all day," said a comment that another user described as the "best guess so far."
"Or put them there while changing shoes and forgot to put them back in the car," a user commented.
Another agreed: "My guess, they were wearing those shoes and changed into another pair and placed them there during the change and just forgot to bring them with them.
"I work in a hospital and I will change out of my work shoes before entering my car. The top of a tire is the perfect height to take shoes on and off."
Several commenters said the shoes could be testing the suspension of the car: "If a shoe fits between the tire and wheel arch, the suspension is not low enough."
YouTubers the Mighty Car Mods popularized the "shoe test," showing that if a shoe could fit between a vehicle's guard and tire, the car was too high.
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According to Firestone, a car repair company, there are warning signs that alert car owners to problems with their vehicle's suspension.
These include the car pulling to one side, bouncing on dips in the road or dipping while braking. One side of the car may also feel lower than the other. Drivers should look out for difficulty steering and rolling to the side when cornering as warnings that there could be a fault with the suspension.
Other commenters offered less serious suggestions, with one writing, "They're showing that they're tired of walking."
"These are obviously brake shoes," another said.
One user described the shoes as an "anti-theft device," with another adding, "If they come back to see the shoes on the floor and the car not there, they know it's stolen."
Di Franco told Newsweek he was surprised at the huge amount of attention his post received, and despite all the theories flooding the comments, "I'm still not sure what the original picture could mean."
"Maybe someone dropping off sneakers for someone else they knew, but they didn't have access to inside the car?" he theorized.
"I don't know, but it's very odd."
Update 02/27/25, 03:00 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include comment from David Di Franco.
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