by Larry Lagarde

A Brief Interview With Michel de Broin (Creator of the Bike Driven Buick)

Yesterday, while writing my post about the full size Buick LeSabre pedal car, I contacted Michel de Broin for more information. He's in Europe at the moment so here are his replies (which I just received this morning).

RTB: Presently, where can your Buick LeSabre pedal driven art car be seen?
Michel: It is now in Toronto in storage at the Mercer Union Centre for Contemporary Art. It was on display but the exhibit has ended. Call Dave at Mercer Union, he is in charge of the gallery and will answer any questions.

MERCER UNION A Centre For Contemporary Art
37 Lisgar Street
Toronto Ontario M6J 3T3 (Canada)
Hours: 11am - 6pm, Tuesday - Saturday (Closed Sunday & Monday)
Tel 416-536-1519
Fax 416-536-2955
Web: MercerUnion.org

RTB: Is anyone going to reproduce the 4 person interconnected bicycle drivetrain that you created for the Buick LeSabre in other art or human powered projects?
Michel: I don't know. A rough cut of video had been seen by over 200,000 people on YouTube and has also been played on many TV programs. I hope after seing this people start pedaling their cars.

RTB: What was the law that police claim the driver broke when driving the Buick in Toronto?
Michel: The police said "operating an unsafe vehicle;" they demanded that the car be towed back to the gallery. A trial has been set for the third of April, at 3pm in Toronto. No fine has been levied yet.

Besides the YouTube video of the Buick being pedaled on the streets of Toronto, Michel has a video on his site of the Buick LeSabre being pedaled/driven through bumper to bumper traffic in New York City. Watch the surprised looks of pedestrians near the car.

From climate change to pollution and war, burning oil for transportation holds profound consequences for humanity. My thanks to Michel for making people think.

Labels: pedal-car

by Larry Lagarde

Could this pedal car be a sign of our transportation future?



As comical as that sounds, the reality appears quite harsh, particularly for homeowners in suburban areas across the USA.

Although summer is still months away, the cost of oil is approaching $110/barrel (it reached a record $109 today) and the average cost of gasoline across the USA is now averaging $3.24/gal. By June, gas is likely to average $3.45/gal. and the trend is only expected to continue. In fact, oil analysts project $150/barrel oil in just 4 years and that's without any major world calamities, new political instabilities or outbreaks of war.
Chart right: Average cost of gasoline in the USA the last 6 years - courtesy GasBuddy.com

Why This Is Bad In General For Suburban Homeowners
With real estate already in a slump, sharply rising fuel costs will have the greatest effect on homeowners in the far reaches of suburbia. Not only will they have to pay more for every trip they drive, they'll have to eat the same rising costs for all consumer goods that the rest of the country faces. In a reversal of a 70 year old trend, buyers will opt for homes in city centers, making it even harder to sell suburban homes.

Hopefully, an inventor out there will come up with a reliable and affordable alternative source of propulsion for the world's personal motor vehicles. Otherwise, as I wrote on TreeHugger, Mad Max, here we come.

As to the video displayed above, the occupants of Michel de Broin's Buick pedal car were stopped, ticketed and are set to go to court on April 3rd. The charge: operating an unsafe vehicle. Whether that charge will stick remains to be seen. Technically by Ontario's standards, the pedal car is a bike and bikes are allowed to operate on Ontario's roadways. Plus, the Buick pedal car was driven in Montreal without getting a ticket (police stopped them there too). Photo right: Police ticketing the pedal car in Toronto - photo by Benny Zenga

Labels: pedal-car