Overview
- Montana Highway Patrol officers stopped the 23-foot banana-shaped car after boxes on its cargo rack partly blocked the plate that reads “SPLIT.”
- The driver, identified as Steve Braithwaite, was informed of the issue and released without a citation.
- The patrol posted a photo of the stop on Facebook and joked that “traffic laws still apply to fruit,” drawing wide local and national attention.
- Braithwaite built the fiberglass banana over several years using the body of a 1993 Ford F-150 and finished the conversion around 2011.
- Braithwaite says he sold most of his possessions to travel full time in the vehicle and that public curiosity has led to hundreds of past traffic stops and frequent car-show appearances.