It's a rather undignified process, being pulled over by the police. Next time you're sitting at the side of the road with the lights flashing in your rearview mirror, just think of this: at least you weren't pulled over by a VW Beetle. Unless you reside in Blount County, Tennessee, where Archie Garner, a 40-plus-year police veteran, nabbed this 1972 Beetle in a DUI case and summarily converted it into an Interceptor. Not that it does too much intercepting, being capable of only 70 miles per hour or so using the stock air-cooled 1600cc engine.
The "bug-erceptor", as it's affectionately referred to, just so happens to be car 53, wearing the same number as the lovable bug from the Herbie movie enterprise, and sees most of its duty in parades and on public relations missions. Wouldn't it be fun, though, to see your buddy pulled over in his souped-up Camaro by a Beetle? That's a story he'd never be able to live down.
In a move sure to please more than a few motorists, police in Tulsa, OK are testing new sirens on their patrol cars with a tone low enough to send vibrations through targeted vehicles and their occupants. It sounds strange, but as cars become more isolated from the outside world, it has become increasingly difficult for cops to grab the attention of wayward motorists. Locked in our motorized cocoons, a wailing siren just can't be heard over the din of cell phones, Sponge Bob and iPods.
This new and innovative (and non-sadistic) approach called the Rumbler is designed to blast a deep tone up to 70 yards away to alert drivers through vibrations in their backsides. The Tulsa police have three units in use, with three more expected within the next ten days. Law enforcement officials in Washington DC, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida are also trying the technology. Talk from the officers and the public indicates this apparently harmless approach works pretty well. If put into widespread use, it seems to us that the booty-shaking siren just could become the best part of being pulled over.
Follow the jump for video of the Rumbler in action and hear what the new sound of police sirens may soon be in your city. Thanks for the tip, Screwtape!
Bob Lutz has just posted a photochop on his GM Fastlane Blog of what the Corvette ZR1 could look like donning Michigan State Police livery. Bound to be the bane of speeders in the Wolverine state, the Corvette is sporting all the cop car traits necessary to scare the living Hell out of law breakers, including the prerequisite light bar, bumper guard (!) and spotlights. We, however, are particularly partial to the blacked out 20-spoke rollers. Despite lacking nanotechnology and more spoiler blades than a Cuisinart, we think this imaginary ZR1 cop car could give the new sci fi-inspired GT500KR-based KITT car a run for its money.
UPDATE:GM let us know this is not a prototype or anything official that implies a ZR1 cop car would actually be built. Someone sent this photoshopped pic of the ZR1 cop car to Lutz and he liked it enough to throw it up on his blog, much to the surprise of the PR department who didn't know anything about when we called.
Many thanks to Anton, an Autoblog reader from Down Under, who was kind enough to grab a couple of snapshots showing us one of the Queensland Police Department's new highway patrol cars. We've reported on Toyota Australia's TRD Aurion before -- it's basically the Camry we want but can't have. With a much better-looking face and 323 supercharged horses underhood, the Aussie-built sedan is inherently more appealing than the vanillamobile available at our local Toyota stores. And now the fuzz has them, too.
Earlier this month, the Queensland police welcomed some of the "regular" Aurions into its white-liveried standard fleet. Our new friend Anton noticed a TRD Aurion dressed in the red finish used by the highway patrol. Curious, he followed it back to the station and talked up the officers there to get their opinion on their new interceptor. The verdict is that the TRD Aurion has as much punch as the older V8-powered FPV Falcons and Holden Monaros, and it is the clear winner in terms of interior comfort. Its front-wheel-drive configuration took some getting used to, however. The RWD pursuit cars could power through corners, and any oversteer incurred could be easily corrected from the driver's seat. The officers say that the Aurion's tendency to torque steer forced them to adjust their driving technique.According to them, hammering the throttle mid-corner doesn't do much at all, and the the car plows straight ahead. Solution: they don't do that anymore, and they're apparently "overjoyed" with their new toys, which, as Anton puts it, "go like the clappers." Thanks for the TRD pursuit car shots, Anton!
The transformation from police cruiser to police destroyer is almost complete. Researchers at Australia's National Safety Agency, along with Holden, Motorola and the Monash University Accident Research Center, have created an Emergency Services Concept Car that is not your standard black-and-white.
They claim the development of the car was necessitated by overheating issues in current cruisers and adequate power management. Emergency services personnel had so much technology crammed into their vehicles that they needed a better way to keep things cool and in control. We guess that once they replaced most of the peripherals with one central, voice-activated computer, they realized all the other stuff they could stuff inside.
So they added a license-plate reading camera that can process 5,000 to 8,000 license plates in ten hours. There are three additional cameras to keep track of, well, everything. There's a device for police to be able to send messages over another vehicle's car stereo. And there's also an item called "Starcatch" that fires a GPS dart into a vehicle that the police want to follow. It's only a concept vehicle for now, but the Aussie authorities are showing interest.
We already know that overseas, police cars are not the full-size cruisers we have patrolling our highways in America. But come on, there's a limit.
This Fiat 500, all decked out in police striping and with a little flashing light on the roof, was snapped while parading around Amsterdam with the Dutch police. Unfortunately, the text that came out of the online translator was about as intelligible as a tourist swaggering out of an Amsterdam "coffee shop", but as far as we can tell the car was used purely for demonstration purposes, much like Scotland Yard has displayed constabulary-striped supercars and F1 racers, before the law-enforcement markings were removed and the car went back to civilian duty.
It's a far cry from the Spyker C8 or the BMW M3 that the Dutch police showed recently, but this 500 just looks so darned eager to serve and protect, doesn't it?
If you find yourself being pulled over in Rancho Cordova for no apparent reason, don't worry. Police in the California town are currently rewarding good drivers by pulling them over and giving them $5 gift cards to Starbucks (that's good for a thimble-full of Frappuccino). According to a police department spokesperson, the program is in keeping with the holiday spirit and fosters goodwill between motorists and the traffic division. (At least until the latter runs out of presents and starts doling out tickets again.) Drivers have local merchants to thank, as they donated the cash for the coffee cards. Free donut coupons would be the perfect compliment to this, but if any exist, we've got to believe the fuzz hung onto them for, you know, safekeeping.
Despite the lack of a formal announcement (nor any real surprise), the Detroit News has the inside scoop on Ford's plan to close its Ontario plant after production of the Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car ceases, likely by the end of 2010.
The 2.6-million square foot facility currently employs over 2,400 workers and has built a number of models, ranging from the Pinto to the Escort.
Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) president, Buzz Hargrove, admitted to the News that, "There's nothing we can do to save St. Thomas," but we think there is. Convince Ford that the livery market is still dependent on the Panther-platform stalwart, despite New York City's vow to make all of its taxis hybrids in the next few years, and revamp the current car to be all things to all cops by fitting a new V8, a custom, police-friendly interior and anything else the boys (and gals) in blue could want.
Police and rescue vehicles pump out an array of aural and visual warnings to tell motorists and pedestrians to get out of the way. With distractions like cell phones, MP3 players, eating on the run, and applying a fresh coat of Revlon, civil servants still can't seem to grab our attention. That's where Federal Signal's Rumbler comes in. The new audio warning system doesn't pierce your ears with loud, screeching sirens. It uses low frequency sounds coming from two sub-woofers and an amp to shake the ground in ten second increments. The pulses can be felt 200 feet ahead of the vehicle, giving motorists plenty of time to clear a path in times of emergency. The new device is now being used in the U.S., though we've never felt it, so the next time you hear kickin' bass coming up from behind you, it could be Shaq or it could be the fuzz. Either way, it's best to just clear a path.
For years it seems there was an unwritten code among law enforcement officers stating that you didn't give a shield-wearing brother a speeding ticket unless his offense was really bad. Beyond bad, even. That doesn't appear to be the case in the UK, as the chief constable of South Yorkshire has been cold busted going 90 in a 60 mph zone. Britain's Med Hughes stepped down after the court hearing, but he states that his decision to walk away from his post of top traffic cop had nothing to do with his lead foot. To that we give a hearty, "Right-o, chap." Of course as the chief constable, Mr. Hughes preached stringent speed enforcement. The now-defunct top traffic cop even lobbied for hidden speed cameras, which would keep speeds down while racking up big fine money for the department. If Mr. Hughes feels slighted or embarrassed, we'd like to welcome him to our club. As members, when we get tickets we pay the fine, collect the points, and generally suck it up. We're sure he'll find it all to be very novel.
This Fiat 500, all decked out in police striping and with a little flashing light on the roof, was snapped while parading around Amsterdam with the Dutch police. Unfortunately, the text that came out of the online translator was about as intelligible as a tourist swaggering out of an Amsterdam "coffee shop", but as far as we can tell the car was used purely for demonstration purposes, much like Scotland Yard has displayed constabulary-striped 
For years it seems there was an unwritten code among law enforcement officers stating that you didn't give a shield-wearing brother a speeding ticket unless his offense was really bad. Beyond bad, even. That doesn't appear to be the case in the UK, as the chief constable of South Yorkshire has been cold busted going 90 in a 60 mph zone. Britain's Med Hughes stepped down after the court hearing, but he states that his decision to walk away from his post of top traffic cop had nothing to do with his lead foot. To that we give a hearty, "Right-o, chap." Of course as the chief constable, Mr. Hughes preached stringent speed enforcement. The now-defunct top traffic cop even lobbied for hidden speed cameras, which would keep speeds down while racking up big fine money for the department. If Mr. Hughes feels slighted or embarrassed, we'd like to welcome him to our club. As members, when we get tickets we pay the fine, collect the points, and generally suck it up. We're sure he'll find it all to be very novel.
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