Giant Banana Pulled Over: Driver Says Cops Have Stopped Him 100s of Times (cowboystatedaily.com)
189 points by speckx 3 days ago
kazinator an hour ago
> 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.
TomK32 an hour ago
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 39 minutes ago
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.
imzadi 3 hours ago
There's always money in the banana car
dnpls 3 hours ago
Captain America turns head I understood that reference
avgDev an hour ago
Have any of you seen the Weiner mobile?
That thing is so cool and I've seen it in the wild a few times.
exegete an hour ago
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 an hour ago
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.
gnabgib 3 days ago
Discussion yesterday (168 points, 92 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48601420
chris_wot 13 hours ago
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.
nicbou 3 hours ago
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.
actionfromafar 7 hours ago
What's a fruitful story for you can get berry triggering for a botanist.
aaronbrethorst an hour ago
The giant banana was spotted in West Seattle yesterday! https://westseattleblog.com/2026/06/seen-in-west-seattle-the...
dieselgate 2 hours ago
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 an hour ago
Said it was on a pickup truck frame.
dwa3592 4 hours ago
That's a good looking car. I wish there were more of these on the roads.
NoSalt 3 hours ago
Are you driving a banana, or are you happy to see me?
micromacrofoot 2 hours ago
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 23 minutes ago
It's simple primate dominance.
verst 2 hours ago
I saw this very banana car while I was having brunch Sunday morning in Ballard Seattle!
eks-reigh an hour ago
Same! There were a few other art cars parked by the locks, so I would guess it was some kind of meetup.
ljsocal 10 hours ago
There are many of these “art cars” out there. See https://lesblank.com/films/automorphosis-by-harrod-blank/
inglor_cz 7 hours ago
So many comments in the previous thread and no one mentions the banana car from Bloodhound Gang - Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo video.
miah_ 3 hours ago
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.
classified 3 hours ago
> 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 3 hours ago
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 3 hours ago
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 3 hours ago
gacgacgac 3 hours ago
Cops pulling someone over is never "fun and whimsy".
eagerpace 3 hours ago
hluska an hour ago
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.
2OEH8eoCRo0 5 hours ago
So 100s of cops have done their jobs?
saghm 4 hours ago
> "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 4 hours ago
I'll happily live in a world where this is the extent of police authority abuse.
teraflop 3 hours ago
kube-system an hour ago
tomalbrc 4 hours ago
pak9rabid 3 hours ago
Sounds like a fun way to make a lot of friends in law enforcement :)
saghm 2 hours ago
4chandaily 4 hours ago
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 4 hours ago
> 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.
4chandaily 3 hours ago
rozap 3 hours ago
Arodex 4 hours ago
aardvark92 3 hours ago
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 2 hours ago
kube-system 4 hours ago
The police can only stop a driver if they believe they have committed a primary traffic offense.
petcat 4 hours ago
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 4 hours ago
sidewndr46 4 hours ago
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