I missed that, which is a pity as it's a fruitful story and I must have slipped up as it looks quite a-peeling. Certainly I clicked on this story as it stood out from the bunch.
actionfromafar•Jun 23, 2026
What's a fruitful story for you can get berry triggering for a botanist.
nicbou•Jun 23, 2026
These cops using their authority to stop him is a bit of a slippery slope. If he's too tired to humour this monkey business, he can't just peel off.
So many comments in the previous thread and no one mentions the banana car from Bloodhound Gang - Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo video.
miah_•Jun 23, 2026
I wondered if it was the same but he says he built this car in 2008 which would have been three years after that video.
2OEH8eoCRo0•Jun 23, 2026
So 100s of cops have done their jobs?
saghm•Jun 23, 2026
> "For the first eight or nine years I was the most pulled-over man in America," he said. "It was constant."
> Often officers simply wanted photographs.
> Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
> His favorite stop happened in a small mountain town in West Virginia.
> A traffic light turned red. Braithwaite stopped. The light turned green and he made a leisurely turn through the intersection.
> A few moments later, flashing lights appeared behind him.
> A police officer marched up to the banana and delivered the news.
> "'The reason I pulled you over, that light back there, you peeled out.'"
Their job is to take advantage of their authority to have fun at the expense of the time of citizens?
williamdclt•Jun 23, 2026
I'll happily live in a world where this is the extent of police authority abuse.
tomalbrc•Jun 23, 2026
If only.
teraflop•Jun 23, 2026
If you tolerate small abuses, and let people get accustomed to abusing their power in small meaningless ways, the abuses will only grow.
lazide•Jun 23, 2026
I can assure you, pulling over the banana stand is not the road to death camps. The death camps are.
zmgsabst•Jun 23, 2026
Roads don’t start at their end.
And it didn’t start there in Germany, either banana cars or death camps.
wat10000•Jun 23, 2026
Maybe not death camps, but it is inextricably tied to real abuses. I don't see how you ban "driving while black" stops without also banning these.
overfeed•Jun 23, 2026
> ... the abuses will only grow.
SCOTUS made race-based Kavanaugh Stops legal. Stipping a banana on wheels is a much lower bar
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
The problem isn't the severity of the infraction, it's the lack of respect for the rule of law, and an institutionalized acceptance of that practice.
The prioritization of a respect for authority over a respect for the rule of law is notoriously problematic in small town america in very real ways.
pak9rabid•Jun 23, 2026
Sounds like a fun way to make a lot of friends in law enforcement :)
saghm•Jun 23, 2026
Right, there's definitely not a bunch of pressure from the fact that they can throw you in jail for basically anything and probably get away with shooting you if they really wanted that would get in the way of a real meaningful relationship...
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
The police can only stop a driver if they believe they have committed a primary traffic offense.
sidewndr46•Jun 23, 2026
No? Not even close. If the police "smell weed" they can stop you. If the police believe you have active warrants they can stop you. If the police believe you have committed a criminal act of any kind, they may stop you
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
I'm speaking about a traffic stop specifically, I am aware other crimes exist.
sidewndr46•Jun 23, 2026
your statement was "The police can only stop a driver". This is completely false. It is based off the belief of the officer, not fact or reality.
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
> It is based off the belief of the officer, not fact or reality.
A belief that they have violated some law. They cannot do it for these reasons, from the article:
> Often officers simply wanted photographs.
> Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
petcat•Jun 23, 2026
That's not true at all. The police can stop a vehicle for any suspicion of unlawful activity. For instance, to question a driver about the street-legal-ness of their homemade banana car. You can, however, refuse questioning and refuse any inspection of the interior of the vehicle and just ask them to cite you for what they pulled you over for.
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
They are required to have reasonable suspicion that the banana car is unlawful in some way. (e.g. missing required equipment, etc) Simply wanting to question the driver or get a picture for funsies is not quite enough.
wyclif•Jun 23, 2026
IANAL, and would like to believe that what you say is true, but I think in most jurisdictions "reasonable suspicion" that the vehicle was not street legal would float as justification for a stop.
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
There is no "street legal" statute, so it would have to be for something specific like an improperly displayed license plate, that one example in the article alludes to.
But other examples in the article like "Often officers simply wanted photographs." would not be a legal reason.
roughly•Jun 23, 2026
It’s a goddamn banana car. This guy’s banana car is apparently legal, well constructed, and registered properly, but yes, the presence of a hand made banana car is reasonable suspicion that the car may not be up to snuff, road legal, or safe to operate around others.
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
"Reasonable suspicion of a crime" is an objective legal standard that doesn't mean the same thing as "they look suspicious". Being unusual by itself does not legally qualify for reasonable suspicion of a crime or infraction. Being unusual isn't a crime that you could be suspected of, because it isn't one.
Now, the officer could be interested in the car because it is a banana, and want to stop it to take a picture of it, but they have to have suspicion of some specific violation first.
More like 100s of cops have abused their authority to harass a middle aged artist.
At even just 10 minutes a stop, that is over 30 hours of this poor man's life he has spent staring at the berries and cherries just because some entitled cop thought he deserved a photo op.
petcat•Jun 23, 2026
> harass a middle aged artist
This man is driving a homemade banana car across the continent specifically because he wants the attention it garners. It's the whole point.
Arodex•Jun 23, 2026
Yeah, the attention of armed people with the authority to order him around. See how ridiculous that sounds?
petcat•Jun 23, 2026
I would advise you not drive a homemade fruit car around your town if you are this terrified of the attention it will bring. He clearly said in the article that he enjoys the encounters. He is doing this on purpose.
sixothree•Jun 23, 2026
You seem to have misunderstood the reason this country was founded in the first place.
4chandaily•Jun 23, 2026
Him enjoying the attention doesn't make the actions of the police right or just.
He enjoys the attention, they are abusing their authority, Both things are true.
petcat•Jun 23, 2026
> they are abusing their authority
It's perfectly reasonable to question whether that vehicle is street legal when it passes by on the road. It would be my first thought. It looks like it's mounted on a boat trailer chassis, and the windshield appears to have questionable effectiveness at high speeds. Pulling him over to ask about it seems like they are doing their jobs. Especially when I am also a driver on the same road.
wat10000•Jun 23, 2026
Is it legally reasonable? Does the local law make "that looks funny, might not be street legal" a primary traffic offense?
nicbou•Jun 23, 2026
I got a lot of attention on a trip of mine. People would walk up to me at gas stations to ask about mt my trip and it was super cool.
However we interacted as equals and I was free to refuse the conversation or end it when I wanted. I was free to set boundaries.
I would not feel the same if stopped by cops.
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
Attracting attention does not vindicate others in violating that person's rights.
rozap•Jun 23, 2026
Yea, he should be driving the state sponsored crossover suv like the rest of the country.
4chandaily•Jun 23, 2026
Wanting to attract attention and wanting to be constantly interrupted by law enforcement are not the same thing. This is the "well if she didn't want to be raped, she shouldn't have worn that skirt!" argument, and it doesn't look any better here.
petcat•Jun 23, 2026
He said that he enjoys it. Why not just let him have fun in his banana car if he wants to? HN commenters seem to be the only people upset about this. He specifically said that he enjoys the banter and photo-ops with the police.
lazide•Jun 23, 2026
Because no one is allowed to have fun, obviously.
aardvark92•Jun 23, 2026
The police are human too and often bored on shift. The world needs more whimsy!
I understand your perspective, but viewing police as solely as a potential threat is not spreading whimsy.
loloquwowndueo•Jun 23, 2026
> but viewing police as solely as a potential threat is not spreading whimsy.
What a privileged point of view. For a lot of people police are indeed nothing but a potential threat.
dwa3592•Jun 23, 2026
That's a good looking car. I wish there were more of these on the roads.
classified•Jun 23, 2026
> Often officers simply wanted photographs. Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
Who knew that abuse of privilege could be fun! But then I think it's only natural that the LEOs of a banana republic would feel a magnetic attraction to a giant banana.
eagerpace•Jun 23, 2026
He's calling the adventure "The World Needs More Whimsy Grand Tour." Sometimes it's ok to have fun. Nobody drives a big banana thinking they're not going to attract attention. It's part of the fun and whimsy.
nicbou•Jun 23, 2026
You have a point, but stopping a car as a police officer is a much less consensual interaction than having a quick chat at a red light. It's a very forceful way to have a friendly conversation.
lazide•Jun 23, 2026
squints have you met any police?
skinfaxi•Jun 23, 2026
Yeah have you? They carry guns and are prone to violence in the US at rates disproportionate to the rest of the population, and that's just against their own loved ones.
> Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, (1, 2) in
contrast to 10% of families in the general population.(3) A third study of older and more experienced officers
found a rate of 24% (4), indicating that domestic violence is 24 times more common among police families than
American families in general.
Cops pulling someone over is never "fun and whimsy".
eagerpace•Jun 23, 2026
Not saying I enjoy it. Not saying that I’d drive a giant banana either. But if I saw a police car, pull over a giant banana, I would think it was hilarious. That’s the definition of whimsy.
wat10000•Jun 23, 2026
Whimsy should be consensual and not involve the threat of violence.
delecti•Jun 23, 2026
Being pulled over is a command under threat of violence, by an agent of the state empowered to use deadly force, who is mostly insulated from the consequences of poor judgement or abuses of power. Being pulled over by cops cannot be whimsical.
hluska•Jun 23, 2026
Thankfully, not everyone thinks like you do. I have zero problems with police and never have. I trust you’ve heard of different opinions?
delecti•Jun 23, 2026
We can hold differing opinions about whether state sanctioned threats of deadly force are whimsical, but that is unarguably what being pulled over is.
imzadi•Jun 23, 2026
There's always money in the banana car
dnpls•Jun 23, 2026
Captain America turns head I understood that reference
NoSalt•Jun 23, 2026
Are you driving a banana, or are you happy to see me?
verst•Jun 23, 2026
I saw this very banana car while I was having brunch Sunday morning in Ballard Seattle!
eks-reigh•Jun 23, 2026
Same! There were a few other art cars parked by the locks, so I would guess it was some kind of meetup.
micromacrofoot•Jun 23, 2026
I'm glad the owner takes it lightly, but isn't this actually an abuse of power? If I can't pull someone over because I want a photo with their car... cops shouldn't be able to either, right?
kazinator•Jun 23, 2026
It's simple primate dominance.
dieselgate•Jun 23, 2026
Super cool article, love how the driver got bored of car shows and wanted to do something different. Article doesn't appear to mention any of the engine or chassis specifics?!
Reminds me of Dumb and Dumber when the cops say they're following a "1985 Sheepdog, sir"
avgDev•Jun 23, 2026
Said it was on a pickup truck frame.
kazinator•Jun 23, 2026
> A Montana police officer spotted the giant banana rolling through Billings on Wednesday afternoon and did what countless law enforcement officers have done before him.
Boys in the blue in Montana,
Pulled over a giant banana.
Drawn by the appeel of the yellow four wheeler,
They spun jokes deadpan and deadpanner.
exegete•Jun 23, 2026
How does this work with registration? Like what would they put for make and model for the car? I imagine there has to be a way to add custom cars to it.
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
Typically these types of vehicles are highly modified from some other vehicle, and they are registered as that original vehicle. It sounds like this one is built on a truck chassis:
> The truck beneath the banana has now traveled more than 250,000 miles.
It is also possible to register a vehicle built from scratch, but this typically requires a lot more paperwork to do.
avgDev•Jun 23, 2026
Have any of you seen the Weiner mobile?
That thing is so cool and I've seen it in the wild a few times.
TomK32•Jun 23, 2026
He should keep a log book for his police encounters, categorized by ticket with every cop putting their name and number into it so he can show the cops how often they waste everybody's time...
kube-system•Jun 23, 2026
Do you think that would change their mind? An officer who thinks it is okay to pull over the banana car just to take a look at it probably would not blame any other officer for doing it.
Wow has HN ever taken a turn. What would have once been a conversation about the vehicle has turned into non stop police hatred. Good job - you’ve all become parrots!
It’s especially funny because the owner of the vehicle has zero problems and none of you have evidence of abuse of power but oh no, you’ve all made up your minds and ACAB.
It’s embarrassing you have all decided to stop thinking.
17 Comments
> Often officers simply wanted photographs.
> Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
> His favorite stop happened in a small mountain town in West Virginia.
> A traffic light turned red. Braithwaite stopped. The light turned green and he made a leisurely turn through the intersection.
> A few moments later, flashing lights appeared behind him.
> A police officer marched up to the banana and delivered the news.
> "'The reason I pulled you over, that light back there, you peeled out.'"
Their job is to take advantage of their authority to have fun at the expense of the time of citizens?
And it didn’t start there in Germany, either banana cars or death camps.
SCOTUS made race-based Kavanaugh Stops legal. Stipping a banana on wheels is a much lower bar
The prioritization of a respect for authority over a respect for the rule of law is notoriously problematic in small town america in very real ways.
A belief that they have violated some law. They cannot do it for these reasons, from the article:
> Often officers simply wanted photographs.
> Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
But other examples in the article like "Often officers simply wanted photographs." would not be a legal reason.
Now, the officer could be interested in the car because it is a banana, and want to stop it to take a picture of it, but they have to have suspicion of some specific violation first.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whren_v._United_States
At even just 10 minutes a stop, that is over 30 hours of this poor man's life he has spent staring at the berries and cherries just because some entitled cop thought he deserved a photo op.
This man is driving a homemade banana car across the continent specifically because he wants the attention it garners. It's the whole point.
It's perfectly reasonable to question whether that vehicle is street legal when it passes by on the road. It would be my first thought. It looks like it's mounted on a boat trailer chassis, and the windshield appears to have questionable effectiveness at high speeds. Pulling him over to ask about it seems like they are doing their jobs. Especially when I am also a driver on the same road.
However we interacted as equals and I was free to refuse the conversation or end it when I wanted. I was free to set boundaries.
I would not feel the same if stopped by cops.
I understand your perspective, but viewing police as solely as a potential threat is not spreading whimsy.
What a privileged point of view. For a lot of people police are indeed nothing but a potential threat.
Who knew that abuse of privilege could be fun! But then I think it's only natural that the LEOs of a banana republic would feel a magnetic attraction to a giant banana.
> Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, (1, 2) in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.(3) A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24% (4), indicating that domestic violence is 24 times more common among police families than American families in general.
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2017R1/Downloads/Comm...
Reminds me of Dumb and Dumber when the cops say they're following a "1985 Sheepdog, sir"
Boys in the blue in Montana,
Pulled over a giant banana.
Drawn by the appeel of the yellow four wheeler,
They spun jokes deadpan and deadpanner.
> The truck beneath the banana has now traveled more than 250,000 miles.
It is also possible to register a vehicle built from scratch, but this typically requires a lot more paperwork to do.
That thing is so cool and I've seen it in the wild a few times.
It’s especially funny because the owner of the vehicle has zero problems and none of you have evidence of abuse of power but oh no, you’ve all made up your minds and ACAB.
It’s embarrassing you have all decided to stop thinking.