'Flintstones' car case thrown out of court
Last Updated: Friday, April 4, 2008 | 9:22 AM ET
CBC News
A man who was facing charges for driving a pedal car won a victory in a Toronto courtroom on Thursday.
Trevor Baldwin was pulled over on a Toronto street last October for operating an unsafe vehicle on Queen Street West.
The Buick he was driving looked more like a car from The Flintstones animated television show, in which the driver and passengers use their feet to propel the vehicle.
Artist Michel de Broin built the so-called shared propulsion vehicle to make a point about gas consumption.
The hollowed-out car has no engine or transmission and uses candles instead of headlights. It does, however, have hand brakes.
The car, which has a top speed of 15 kilometres an hour, requires all four occupants to pedal and work together — a sharp contrast to the solitary, effortless experience of a typical car.
As the Crown prosecutor tried to make his case Thursday, the court erupted in laughter, and the charges were thrown out.
Baldwin's legal representative, Terry Fox, said the arresting officer never should have pulled the car over.
"Where's the evidence it was illegal? There was no objective standard here. Just his opinion is what it was, and that's not good enough. It's speculation he based it on," Fox said outside court.
Baldwin said he was happy with the decision. And what did he want to do after leaving court?
"I'm thinking its a really nice day, so we might go for a drive," he said.
That's exactly what Baldwin did. He grabbed three friends, pulled the car out of storage and took it for a spin.
