'Flintstones' car beats court challenge

TORONTO, April 4 (UPI) -- A Toronto judge dismissed charges of unsafe vehicle operation against an artist's car powered by Flintstone-like foot-paddling.

Last October, the driver of a hollowed-out Buick was fined by Toronto police for being behind the wheel of the "Shared Propulsion Car," which had no floor, engine, transmission or signal lights, the Toronto Star reported.

Driver Dean Baldwin challenged the charges and won, the report said.

The vehicle was originally a work of art by Montreal artist Michel de Broin, designed to be a four-seater bicycle or powered by passengers using their feet for propulsion, as in the classic Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series "The Flintstones."

One of the issue prosecutors argued unsuccessfully was that the car used tea candles as headlights, the Star said.