Pedal Powered Car Pulled Over By Police
As reported on glumbert.com, an experimental four-person pedal car was pulled over by the police because it posed a safety hazard…
Obviously this opens up all sorts of questions, like when is a car a car and a bike a bike? What if your car is pedal powered? Does it really need to be registered?
December 6th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
“the safety factor is, uh, unsafe” hahahahah! I love the big peloton of BICYCLE POLICE who pedaled by; a couple of them even stopped to take a look.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
unsafe huh? I guess riding a regular bicycle is more safe?
December 10th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Would this be considered like a sporty Flintstones vehicle? I dont see any difference between the pedal powered car and those elderly people that drive around at 15 to 20 miles an hour through town, but theyre not being stopped for being unsafe.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:40 am
If the pedal-car had some more gears and a license plate, I don’t think it’d be a safety hazard. Eventually, the windshield wipers and the head/tail lights would need to work but, I think that could be fixed with some sort of rechargeable battery. Overall, I think the whole thing is awesome. Maybe next time, the artist could use an old VW bus. If you take the engine out, they’re pretty light!
December 26th, 2007 at 4:04 am
As far as I know vehicular laws use the motor power for classification. That’s why you don’t need a license for a 50cc scooter but you may need one for a 150cc. The only regulation (where I am at least) for bicycles it that they be equipped with reflectors. That cop was BS, but the worst part is the crew of bike cops not doing anything about it.
December 30th, 2007 at 12:33 am
I was part of a group that made a honda civic into a tandem bicycle, as well as the Green Hummer Project. With the security issues of a G8 Summit, we were especially keen on being legal and researched this issue. A pedal-powered object must obey traffic rules, but has legal use of the street if it meets the requirements applied to regular bicycles (stopping within a certain distance, lights at night, reflectors, etc.). Two bicycles can legally ride side by side and take a lane as well, when within reason.
The Green Hummer was pulled over once by Savannah police for having a fake licence plate and it was removed, as it was a counterfit (a freehand counterfit, but counterfit nonetheless). The oxygen fueled car (tandem civic) was pulled over once as well, by police in Savannah sprawl who were more curious than anything else. Both vehicles were ticket-free, even from the parking authority.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Do these cops work for the oil companies or something? I would have liked to have seen the state statute(s) that this idot used to cite the driver if in fact a citation was issued. 9 months in tech school and you can have a badge a gun and an overwhelming sense of self importance!