Giant Banana Pulled Over: Driver Says Cops Have Stopped Him 100s of Times

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/06/18/giant-banana-pulled-over-in-montana-driver-says-cops-have-stopped-him-100s-of-times/

by speckx • 1 month ago

225 123 1 month ago

cowboystatedaily.com

gnabgib• 1 month ago

Discussion yesterday (168 points, 92 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48601420

chris_wot• 30 days 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.

actionfromafar• 30 days ago

What's a fruitful story for you can get berry triggering for a botanist.

nicbou4• 29 days 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.

ljsocal• 30 days ago

There are many of these “art cars” out there. See https://lesblank.com/films/automorphosis-by-harrod-blank/

inglor_cz• 30 days ago

So many comments in the previous thread and no one mentions the banana car from Bloodhound Gang - Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo video.

miah_• 29 days 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.

2OEH8eoCRo0• 29 days ago

So 100s of cops have done their jobs?

saghm2• 29 days 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• 29 days ago

I'll happily live in a world where this is the extent of police authority abuse.

pak9rabid• 29 days ago

Sounds like a fun way to make a lot of friends in law enforcement :)

kube-system12• 29 days ago

The police can only stop a driver if they believe they have committed a primary traffic offense.

sidewndr462• 29 days 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

petcat5• 29 days 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.

4chandaily3• 29 days 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.

petcat5• 29 days 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.

aardvark92• 29 days 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.

dwa3592• 29 days ago

That's a good looking car. I wish there were more of these on the roads.

classified3• 29 days 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.

eagerpace2• 29 days 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.

nicbou4• 29 days 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.

gacgacgac• 29 days ago

Cops pulling someone over is never "fun and whimsy".

imzadi• 29 days ago

There's always money in the banana car

dnpls• 29 days ago

Captain America turns head I understood that reference

theandrewbailey• 29 days ago

(Banana car explodes in flames)

NoSalt• 29 days ago

Are you driving a banana, or are you happy to see me?

verst• 29 days ago

I saw this very banana car while I was having brunch Sunday morning in Ballard Seattle!

eks-reigh• 29 days ago

Same! There were a few other art cars parked by the locks, so I would guess it was some kind of meetup.

micromacrofoot• 29 days 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?

kgwxd• 29 days ago

They're also allowed to lie to people they pull over. Even if they're on body cam saying it, they'll just say they said it "to ease tension", or some garbage.

dieselgate• 29 days 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"

avgDev2• 29 days ago

Said it was on a pickup truck frame.

shmeeed2• 29 days ago

https://bigbananacar.com/big-banana-car_about/

kazinator• 29 days 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.

exegete• 29 days 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-system12• 29 days 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.

avgDev2• 29 days 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.

bookofjoe• 24 days ago

https://postcardhistory.net/2024/06/oscar-mayer-and-the-wien...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wienermobile

https://www.oscarmayer.com/wienermobile

https://www.instagram.com/wienermobile/?hl=en

https://omwienermobile.com/

https://wienermobile.oscarmayer.com/

https://www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/artifact/13...

https://www.travelandleisure.com/food-drink/ride-oscar-mayer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjVkVpOOFbU

TomK322• 29 days 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-system12• 29 days 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.

Suppafly• 29 days ago

I don't know why cops think it's ok to randomly pull over cars just to look at them. They cause a ton of legal liability for their cities and departments by doing it, luckily most people with cool or interesting cars don't seem to mind too much.

aaronbrethorst• 29 days ago

The giant banana was spotted in West Seattle yesterday! https://westseattleblog.com/2026/06/seen-in-west-seattle-the...

hluska2• 29 days 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.

InsideOutSanta• 29 days ago

There is evidence of abuse in the literal title.

lovich• 29 days ago

If the article is to be believed he was pulled over multiple times just so they could take a photo or make a joke. That’s abuse of power even if the victim is fine with it.

soleveloper• 29 days ago

Was just reading the title and thinking it's a new and upgraded image gen model from Google.. Anyone else?

ne11nn• 29 days ago

this is what we need more of in our world

willf• 29 days ago

Just want to say I’ve ridden in this car. It’s a hoot

Giant Banana Pulled Over: Driver Says Cops Have Stopped Him 100s of Times

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