8 ms·
Big Banana Car
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/06/18/giant-banana-pulled-over-in-montana-driver-says-cops-have-stopped-him-100s-of-times/ https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/06/18/giant-banana-pulled-...
- phyzome 4mo agoIs this LLM-written, or is this just the sort of annoying "breathless" style of writing that LLMs were trained on?
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- friedtofu 4mo agoI hate that we have to ask this question but I'm wondering like cj...what made the post sound breathless? I type like OP pretty often. His post has plenty of valid punctuation. Commas, periods and dashes that(IMO) make me think it isn't LLM-written. I would honestly be surprised if it turns out it was written by an LLM.
- phyzome 4mo agoIn large sections, every sentence is its own paragraph. I don't know what it would be like without all the extra linebreaks, but as it is, it feels like the author is getting their breath back in between sentences. (I've also seen this style on an LLM-written site.)
- echoangle 4mo agoI would probably pull him over too but arguably he should be pulled over less than normal, right? The risk that he’s some criminal is probably pretty low since not a lot of criminals would chose a car like that to travel. On the other hand it probably has an increased likelihood to have technical problems that make it reasonable to pull it over though.
- iambateman 4mo agoYes but every good police officer had watched Arrested Development and so knows that there’s always money in the banana stand.
- garyfirestorm 4mo agoWow you waited from 2012 to crack this joke with that username
- schmookeeg 4mo agoworth it.
- bot403 4mo agoIf im a drug smuggler I'm definitely driving the most boring, common car directly BEHIND the banana car.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- ajb 4mo agoThe cops should know that trick by now - the "distraction car" is literally the plot of "Smokey and the Bandit" from 50 years ago. Nevertheless, you may be right :-)
- bena 4mo agoHowever, the distraction car is breaking the law in Smokey and the Bandit. It’s not incorrect for them to try and pull it over.
- AngryData 4mo agoWhat possible technical problem would a cop be qualified to not only recognize and diagnose, but also have any useful input on? Cops shouldn't be pulling over anybody without either direct evidence of a potential crime or a warrant.
- dcrazy 4mo agoWell this headline is certainly a crash blossom: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/crash-blossom-words-were-watching https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/crash-blossom-words...
- jacobgkau 4mo agoMainly because the colon from the original was omitted, imo.
- dredmorbius 4mo agoI'm presuming the original headline was some variant of "Giant Banana Pulled Over in Montana: Driver Says Cops Have Stopped Him 100s Of Times" (originally submitted URL, since changed).
- eru 4mo agoEnglish has a lot more of these crash blossoms--not just in headlines--than eg German or other more inflected languages. It's sometimes charming, sometimes annoying. (But it makes for some cheap joke material that tends to make Poms think they are especially funny.)
- superkuh 4mo agoPoor guy. He just wanted to spread some joy and now he's risking his life repeatedly. One of these police stops it's not going to work out. There are just too many US police eager to use physical violence for no reason.
- allenrb 4mo agoWhile absolutely and sadly true, something tells me that rogue banana drivers are not the ones most likely to be killed in a traffic stop. Besides, his family would surely win the resulting case… on a peel.
- otterley 4mo agoWell done, sir. clap
- superkuh 4mo agoIt could never be against the police officer themselves due to qualified immunity. They are free to break the law however they wish. And that completely lack of accountability creates the risk inherent in every (US) police interaction.
- tjrlx 4mo ago[flagged]
- eru 4mo agoI don't think that's how it works in theory, but in practice it seems to be pretty close. (I mostly agree with you otherwise. Mr Banana Car Man would tell us, if he felt himself to be a victim.)
- mminer237 4mo agoNo, if they violate a clearly defined right, you can often still sue them individually, although that's usually suboptimal as the government has deeper pockets.
- nekusar 4mo agoGee golly whillikers! Pigs are abusing their authority! Oh whatever shall we do?
- ceejayoz 4mo agoTraffic stops can and do go bad. Each is a risk, even if small. If they discover something like a bag of drugs in the back, it raises clear Fourth Amendment issues. Cops shouldn't be putting law-abiding citizens at risk for a selfie.
- nekusar 4mo agoMy answer is to fire their lardasses for due cause and make them unhirable across the nation. But this country's courts said this shit is cool. And so is highway robbery by pig. And they don't need to come for help if you call 911. Oh and qualified immunity means they can what the fuck ever they want. If RICO act was serious, they'd shut down all pig stys (police stations).
- alentred 4mo ago> World Needs More Whimsy 100% that! When did everything get serious and look-alike? Anyway, I am taking off, shopping cart racing in the mall...
- Henchman21 4mo agoIn the early 2000s the media ecosystem decided to re-tell every story, but darker & “grittier”. Then 9/11 happened and the darkness became permanent. It would be nice if we were coming out of that phase!
- WJW 4mo agoOh don't worry, if history is any indication it shouldn't be much longer than 30-40 years from now. Basically 2 generations from the previous shift. In the meantime, be the change you want to see! You don't have to be darker&grittier yourself just because the media ecosystem has decided that's where the current fashion is.
- eru 4mo agoTV Tropes puts the start of darker and grittier more into the 1990s. See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkerAndEdgier https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkerAndEdgier And some even in the 1980s or 1970s. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DarkerAndEdgier/Batman https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DarkerAndEdgier/Batma... I don't think the 2000s were especially darker and grittier?
- Henchman21 4mo agoIt easily could've started earlier. But the demarcation line of 9/11/2001 is a pretty stark one, kinda hard to miss. Call it the catalyst that forced everything to be darker & grittier?
- eru 4mo agoI'm not so sure actually. Perhaps plenty of people get fed up with real world darker and grittier and wanted their fiction to be more uplifting?
- nine_k 4mo ago(1) Obtain a vehicle that commands attention. (2) Enjoy everyone's attention! (3) There's no point three.
- functionmouse 4mo agoThe issue is false pretext
- init2null 4mo agoEvery time he gets pulled over for a selfie it's an abuse of power. If he can't ignore it, they shouldn't be doing it. Wait for a random encounter in a parking lot or gas station like the rest of us.
- ceejayoz 4mo agoYup. That's a clear Fourth Amendment violation. Same with the "pulled over to give you an ice cream" feel-good ops they do. https://abc7ny.com/post/video-police-hand-out-ice-cream-instead-of-ticket/1452239/ https://abc7ny.com/post/video-police-hand-out-ice-cream-inst... An illegal detention is still an illegal detention if it's being done nicely.
- x______________ 4mo agoFinally! A nice story about cops pulling over a 23-foot banana motor vehicle for years without any consequence other than spreading joy to the people involved and years of fame! No? You could also pull the public tax dollars spent card, or other crimes not being pursued while you're at it but it won't help sour the mood!
- ceejayoz 4mo ago> A nice story about cops… This is not a nice story about cops.
- x______________ 4mo ago> 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.'" > For a moment, Braithwaite didn't know if he was being serious or not. > "He said it so straight-faced," Braithwaite recalled. "And I'm like, 'Oh yeah.'" > The banana jokes, he said, are "never-ending." > Fortunately, so are the laughs. ..Are we discussing the same article? > Braithwaite recently drove the banana into Mexico, where he was pulled over five times in three days. > Every encounter was friendly, he says. This is a great international story about cops! > Now he's thinking much bigger. > His goal is to drive the Big Banana Car through Central America; somehow get it shipped across oceans and eventually circle the globe. > "I just want to keep going," he said. > He's calling the adventure "The World Needs More Whimsy Grand Tour." > A sign mounted to the back of the vehicle carries the slogan. > "The world is dangerously low on whimsy," says the man hoping to make a difference. That last paragraph hits it out of the park.
- DonHopkins 4mo agoGet on the horn to British Intelligence and let them know about this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCoRGbT3CM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCoRGbT3CM
- tsherb 4mo agoI feel like we’ve got to at least link to the guy’s website: https://bigbananacar.com/ https://bigbananacar.com/
- Cockbrand 4mo agoLet me be the first to say that this is a lovely website in a lovely, slightly modernized turn-of-the-millennium style.
- Klonoar 4mo agoIt’s like looking at an adult Richard Scary tale.
- lproven 4mo ago* Scarry But you're right!
- dang 4mo agoAgreed, the lede should be unburied! I've made that the top link and will put the submitted link in the toptext. Thanks!
- fsckboy 4mo ago"current project is a “Diesel punk” vehicle called the Starfield Dragonwing Intergalactic Speedster" https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXfDQb7EmU4/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXfDQb7EmU4/
- OutOfHere 4mo agoOpen cars worry me. How do they handle the wind, rain, snow, hail, etc.?
- orbital-decay 4mo agoAs someone who rides bikes most of the time, the right question is how you handle it.
- doubled112 4mo agoThis. I’ve ridden a bike year round in southwestern Ontario. In general, I’m fairly waterproof. -30C was pretty cold, especially moving, but rare enough I could dress for it and keep my body parts. Snowstorms are always fun. Free physics lessons included. How much traction can you get? Whoops, I’m laying on the ground. Thunderstorms and hail you might want to avoid.
- dredmorbius 4mo agoWhat do you do for your hands and feet especially, and if you wear glasses, the inevitable frosting of them. Heck, if you don't wear glasses, what do you do for windburn? I've biked as low as about -15C, though it's much more comfortable keeping it above -10 -- -5 or so.
- doubled112 4mo agoSome heavier Thinsulate gloves were always enough for me. Maybe a pair of those thin fabric cheapies underneath. Boots were just my regular winter boots. I think they all say "comfortable" down to -40C at this point. Comfortable is probably overselling it, but I still have all of my toes. I don't remember my glasses ever really fogging up until I'd get inside. I don't like things on my face, so usually just a hat with ear flaps. Add a scarf for neck and lower face. Perhaps a beard helped too. It and my mustache have certainly frosted up. When I was doing it regularly, those days just weren't common enough to justify doing anything special. I could generally keep the rides short which really helped out.
- harwoodr 4mo agoI used to drive a 1991 Suzuki Cappuccino - a tiny right-hand drive kei sports car. The first couple of years I drove it, the police pulled me over on a regular basis - no tickets issued but lots of questions asked. One time while I was waiting for a light, an officer knocked on my window (which is somewhat startling)... I rolled it down and he excitedly asked "What kind of car is this?!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cappuccino https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cappuccino
- forinti 4mo agoThat's just not enough motive to waste someone's time. And, no offense intended, that car is not that interesting. I guess policing must be boring.
- titanomachy 4mo agoIt’s notable mostly for being tiny. With a human for scale: (sorry, it’s an instagram link) https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNI1TfAxyIZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNI1TfAxyIZ/?utm_source=ig_we...
- qingcharles 4mo agoI was stopped eight times in one day driving my DeLorean "time machine" replica. My friend has videos of the (literally) hundreds of times he has been stopped. It's always for some made up traffic offense ("your lights weren't working, try them now; oh they are fixed; can me and my partner get a photo with your car?").
- pengaru 4mo agoIn the context of US roads, it's an extremely rare specimen which by itself makes it interesting. But even beyond that, lightweight, mid front engine, rwd, turbo variants, this is the stuff of proper race cars. Anything Colin Chapman would approve of is automatically interesting.
- n4r9 4mo agoIt's pleasantly surprising how much positive vibes you can get driving an unusual car. On a business trip last year, I arrived late at night to the hotel and there was a rank of the smallest cars I'd ever seen: https://www.drive.com.au/news/microlino-battery-electric-bubble-car-to-go-into-production/ https://www.drive.com.au/news/microlino-battery-electric-bub... The next morning I was able to hire one out to travel to the venue. At a pitstop on the way, another driver followed me into the carpark and excitedly asked me where I found the car so that he could go get one too. To be honest, it wasn't a comfortable or easy drive. The speed topped out at 90kph and the steering felt gravelly. But it was fun getting in and out of the front of the car.
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- sixsided 4mo agoACAB (All Cops Appreciate Banana)
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- _tk_ 4mo agoAlternative title: Person who wants to get noticed indeed gets noticed
- JackFr 4mo agoIf he were my Uber, I would tip so much.
- chiefgeek 4mo agoI bought the ninth Mini Cooper in Illinois in 2002. My former wife got pulled over in Chicago. They just wanted to look at the car.
- pryelluw 4mo agoI would love to be able to rent it out and have the guy drive me around. I would dress up like Donkey Kong, too.
- schmookeeg 4mo agoI enjoyed this, in all of its silly big banana energy. I have an overdeveloped anti-authority streak, and I did not like to read that he was pulled over so often, but... I mean... that surely isn't a surprise, right? It's almost like reverse entrapment of the officers :)
- lubujackson 4mo agoStraight out of Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go": https://a.co/d/0778Ou0A https://a.co/d/0778Ou0A If you are a parent of a small child, you will be amazed by the depth and fun of this book. I am always surprised it is not more commonly read.
- postalcoder 4mo agoWe have a lot of the richard scarry books. I've gotten so many laughs out of them with my child. > you will be amazed by the depth and fun of this book +100. These are so fun to read and look at. There are stories in stories. These books are a treasure.
- 0xbadcafebee 4mo agoI hosted Steve on my couch (remember Couchsurfing?) when he was taking his Big Banana Car to a local art festival. Awesome guy, awesome car. I got to ride along for a bit. It was thrilling to see every single person's face light up as soon as they saw it, like a moving happiness machine. I hope somebody sees this and decides to make their own bit of whimsy
- kylegalbraith 4mo agoFrankly, this sounds like a really fun time. Sometimes the simple things just hit harder.
- eps 4mo agoIf you are on reddit, https://old.reddit.com/r/whatisthiscar/ https://old.reddit.com/r/whatisthiscar/ is excellent for this sort of content :)
- HocusLocus 4mo agoAlso of note, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wienermobile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wienermobile Merry Pranksters Bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Pranksters#Eastward_bus_journey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Pranksters#Eastward_bus_...
- ms_by_pd 4mo agoohk
- xnx 4mo agoRelated: Pear-shaped scooter that's making the rounds on TikTok https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71446039/florida-man-pear-car/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71446039/florida-man-pear...