Man acquitted of speeding offence following banana testimony

A district court in the Västmanland region of Sweden have found a man not guilty of having speeded at 68 kilometres per hour on a 60 km/h road in the city of Västerås because the offender was eating a banana.



He had been snapped by a police camera in September last year and was handed a 1,500 kronor ($110, $174) fine at the time. In the picture it is clearly visible that the driver was eating a banana. However, the car owner claimed it couldn't be him because he is on a low-carb diet and doesn't eat bananas.

“I have not eaten bananas for more than two years because I am on the LCHF diet,” the man wrote in his appeal. The driver also told the court that his car was up for sale in September last year and that between six and ten people had been test driving it around the time of the alleged offence.



In the end, mainly because the photograph snapped by the speed camera was found to be of too low quality to prove the identity of the person behind the wheel, the court ruled that the man would not have to pay the fine. Proponents of the LCHF diet (Low Carb and High Fat) eat a lot of protein-rich and fatty foods but avoid high-carbohydrate contents found for example in pasta and certain fruits.