The inventor of the "shared propulsion car," a vehicle that allows several passengers to power it by pedaling, has won a court battle over the safety of the transportation device.
A charge of operating an unsafe motor vehicle laid against Montreal artist Michel de Broin was dismissed on Thursday afternoon.
Justice of the peace Patrick Marum ruled the Crown didn't prove the car was unsafe.
De Broin transformed his 1986 Buck by taking out the car's engine, suspension, transmission, electrical system and floorboards.
The Fred Flintstone-type vehicle had no windows and no licence plates when four passengers took it on its maiden voyage through downtown Toronto last October.
The four drivers brought the vehicle to its top speed of about 15 km/h before police pulled the car over, which had only been on the road for a few minutes.
Others following the journey of the propulsion car videotaped the encounter with police and later posted the video on the website YouTube.
An officer can be heard asking the man seated in the usual driver's seat for the ownership information. The constable also asks if there is anyway he can pop the hood, to which the man replies "no."
One of the drivers asks if they can pedal the car back to the Mercer Union art gallery where it was exhibited, but the officer says they would have to tow the vehicle.
The officer who laid the ticket, Const. Derek Walsh, told reporters outside court on Thursday he felt the vehicle was unsafe, particularly because of the two small bicycle-type handbrakes and tea candles for headlights.
The artist, who was not in court during the ruling, says the car portrays the resistance to the culture of performance.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
