A renegade form of alternative transportation was outlawed in Toronto when the driver of a pedal-powered car was pulled over by local police. (According to the cop, "The safety factor [of the vehicle] is….unsafe.") The car, which uses muscle power in lieu of a motor, is propelled by four independent pedal and gear systems that are set inside of its metal body.

Check out the video after the jump.

The alterna-car, a 1986 Buick Regal, was designed by artist Michel de Broin and was being displayed as part of a touring gallery exhibit in Toronto. Broin removed the engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system in the car – all of which the artist calls "superfluous devices," and replaced these motorized mechanisms with the human-powered pedals and gears.

From the artist's web site:

It was then equipped with 4 independent pedal and gear mechanisms that make it possible for passengers to form the self-propulsion group. A cutting edge transmission technology was developed to transmit the power supplied by the passengers to the drive wheels and to vary the reduction ratios between cyclists and wheels, so as to ensure their progressive coupling for start-ups. With a top speed of around 15 km/h, the vehicle's resistance to the culture of performance is raised to an unprecedented level.

Still, the car's performance didn't cut it for Toronto police. My favorite part of the video? The peloton of Toronto bicycle cops that pedal by while the policeman is giving the "driver" a ticket.

Comments (4)

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Joel Sanda said:

Isn't it odd they got a ticket - it's not really a motor vehicle and it's certainly a hell of lot 'safer' than a bicycle. Having been hit three times now while on a bike (when did stop signs become yield signs ) I'd rather get clipped pedaling this than my bicycle!

February 05, 2008 | url

Max Kennedy said:

The vehicle was too slow to be in mainstream traffic and as such presented a hazard to other drivers. The ticket was appropriate. There is a youtube video of an HPV that can keep up with traffic and that vehicle I would expect should not be ticketed so long as it has the appropriate lights.

February 05, 2008

nisti2 said:

nice jajaja wee need one of those in DR..

February 18, 2008 | url

MT said:

I wonder if they'd ticket it if it had blinkers going.

April 01, 2008 | url

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