In one of the vaguely-parallel timelines, a defendant is being asked by a judge why they didn't pull over and responds with: "I thought they were going to try to give me an ice cream cone, and I'm lactose intolerant so I didn't stop."

Finally! 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!

> A nice story about cops…

This is not a nice story about cops.

> 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.

> For a moment, Braithwaite didn't know if he was being serious or not.

This is not a good story about cops. This is a good story about a guy, that includes cops as part of its plot.

It's like those "kid sells his toys to fund parents' cancer treatment" stories local news does as a feel-good segment. Great kid! Shitty system!

> For a moment, x______________ didn't know if he was being serious or not.

I'm still inclined to think that an /s is coming up in later replies. A bad story about cops and a banana motorist is that the motorist is dead, incarcerated or has a bounty on his head and is traveling around the world to ..evade.. his notoriety.

Cops on the road, who drive alone in their car, are entitled to a bit of fun.. or as Braithwaite put it, "more whimsy"!

Don't they? Help me understand..

> Cops on the road, who drive alone in their car, are entitled to a bit of fun…

No, cops are not entitled to Fourth Amendment violations as fun. Turn on the radio or something.

I am entitled to fun, too. That doesn't mean I get to pick kicking you in the shin as my fun.

> There's no 4th amendment outside of the usa. He got pulled over 5 times in Mexico, and is doing world tour, also no 4th there.

You and that other op dude need better arguments.

It is not whimsical when the other party can legally kill you for non-compliance, no.

> entitled

Exactly the right word.

> This is a great international story about cops!

It certainly isn’t, the police have no right to pull him over, they’re violating his 4th amendment rights. Unless he has committed a moving violation or they suspect him of committing a crime, there’s no cause to stop a motorist.

It’s a good story about a man who hasn’t let police acting illegally prevent him from driving his banana car.

There's no 4th amendment outside of the usa. He got pulled over 5 times in Mexico, and is doing world tour, also no 4th there.

You and that other op dude need better arguments.

There was a security incident in 2002: Trooper Fears the Wurst, Stops Wienermobile in DC -- Hot doggers grilled near Pentagon