(Source: Telegraph, UK)

There is fierce competition for the world’s fastest police car with the Italians and Germans vying for the title.

Up until now the police prix d’or has been held by a Lamborghini Gallardo which an Italian police patrol is using on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway.

It is capable of hitting a top speed of 192mph, which is probably ample to keep up with the most reckless of motorists.

But the Germans have their eye on a car which would leave the Lamborghini trailing in its wake.

It has placed an order for a Brabus CLS V12 S Rocket which has a top speed of 225mph. It will be used on the fastest stretches of the autobahn.

 

In San Diego officers are using a custom made police car with integrated shotgun mounts and a top speed of 155mph.

This article states that some of the British police officers drive the Greenest, if not the meanest, among all forces – the tiny  SmartforTwo cars.

TransportGooru wonders if this San Diego squad car is a silly Dodge Charger.  American police officers should think about doing some police work in Europe!  It will make a great cinema when California Highway Patrol chasing some Hollywood superstar’s Lamborghini Gallardo with his Dodge Charger with integrated shot gun mounts!

On a releated note, few days back a South Carolina Trooper, J.D. McGaha, was cited for speeding in his unmarked patrol car.  Guess what he got for mashing his Dodge Charger – 3 days suspension, possible fine worth $355 & 6 points on his license. Oh, his Dodge Charger was taken back by his Department. Trooper McGaha is definitely not driving a Charger like a Ferrari anymore. Read the TransportGooru article on this incident here.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

(Source: Autoblog)

When the next step in the road to 35 mpg by 2020 CAFE standards was announced recently, those in the know made it clear that the Obama administration’s upcoming goal of 27.3 mpg by 2011 would not be hard for automakers to meet. In fact, the 2007 average was already 31.3, so the 2011 goal would not require any change in product lineup (more difficult changes are scheduled to come into effect down the line). The 2011 standards were so light, in fact, that the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) took the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Department of Transportation to court last week, saying that the Obama administration’s standards “ignore greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis, are illogical, illegal, and very disappointing from a president who has promised to make the United States a leader in the fight against global warming.”

“These low standards, which ignore greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis, are illogical, illegal, and very disappointing from a president who has promised to make the United States a leader in the fight against global warming,” said Kassie Siegel, who directs the organization’s climate law project.

The group asked the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to declare that the administration violated a federal law requiring that fuel economy standards be set at the maximum feasible level, in light of current technology, economic impact, and the nation’s need to conserve energy. The same court ruled in a similar lawsuit in 2007 that the Bush administration’s fuel standards for light trucks and SUVs for the 2008 through 2011 model years were invalid.

The Project P.U.M.A. prototype on 18th Street in Manhattan.

 (Source: Wheels Blog – New York Times)

When General Motors unveiled Project P.U.M.A. in New York on Tuesday (with partner Segway), it was showing not so much a vehicle as a vision for a new transportation system. And that’s high risk, high reward, because as much as new concepts are needed, they’re excruciatingly hard to actually put in place. Our highways are haunted with unfulfilled visions, from electric station-cars to statewide hydrogen-refueling networks.

 

For David J. Friedman, research director for the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the P.U.M.A. has possibilities, though what he called “the massive monitoring and managing of traffic to minimize congestion and maximize road usage” has been tried before; the general category is called Intelligent Transportation Systems. G.M. experimented with hands-free Buicks on automated highways in 1997, but the efforts were thwarted by high costs and driver confusion.

“We need to design our cities around something other than two- or three-ton vehicles,” said Mr. Friedman. “The data suggests that by 2030 half of the built environment in the U.S. will be new. What if we designed new suburban towns with integrated shopping so you could walk, bike or use a P.U.M.A. to get around, with conventional vehicles only for longer trips?”

 

(Source:  New York Times; Photo: Jay Mailin/Bloombern News)

Obama’s Top Auto Industry Troubleshooter

After 26 years as one of the most politically connected investment bankers on Wall Street, Steven Rattner finally took a job in Washington — only it is not quite the one friends and business associates thought it would be.

(Source: Jalopnik)

P.U.M.A delivers 35 mile range, 35 MPH top speed, all on 35 cents of electricity 

GM and Segway have teamed up before the New York Auto Show on what they’re calling the PUMA project. The prototype vehicle was exclusively unveiled today on the Today Show. It’s no April Fool’s joke.  PUMA stands for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility and the prototype running around outside NBC’s Today Show this morning is an experimental prototype of a vehicle Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development, and strategic planning, claims we’ll see a roadable version by January.

Jalopnik’s review of the PUMA after taking it for a spin goes like this:  

The first impression is of how small and simple the PUMA is. There’s barely room for two full-sized adults to sit side-by-side within its roll cage and inside, under the rough plexi windshield there’s only one control: the aircraft-like yoke.

(Source: Associated Press via Yahoo! News)

WASHINGTON – U.S. highway deaths in 2008 fell to their lowest level in nearly 50 years, the latest government figures show, as the recession and $4 per gallon gas meant people drove less to save more. Safety experts said record-high seat-belt use, tighter enforcement of drunken driving laws and the work of advocacy groups that encourage safer driving habits contributed to the reduction in deaths.

Preliminary figures released by the government Monday show that 37,313 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year. That’s 9.1 percent lower than the year before, when 41,059 died, and the fewest since 1961, when there were 36,285 deaths.

A different measure, also offering good news, was the fatality rate, the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. It was 1.28 in 2008, the lowest on record. A year earlier it was 1.36.

“The silver lining in a bad economy is that people drive less, and so the number of deaths go down,” said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “Not only do they drive less but the kinds of driving they do tend to be less risky — there’s less discretionary driving.”

Fatalities fell by more than 14 percent in New England, and by 10 percent or more in many states along the Atlantic seaboard, parts of the Upper Midwest and the West Coast, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“Americans should really be pleased that everyone has stepped up here in order to make driving safer and that people are paying attention to that,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

(Source: McKinsey Quarterly ;Video:  The Auto Channel @ YouTube)

The fastest way to reduce America’s dependence on oil imports is to convert petroleum-driven miles to electric ones by retrofitting the SUVs and pick-ups now on the road with rechargeable batteries. Here’s how.

 (Source: AutoBlogGreen)

In an attempt to stay politically neutral, we’re going to stop short of offering opinions about Rush Limbaugh’s recent statements regarding hybrid automobiles and the intent of automakers like Ford and Honda to “please politicians overseeing the industry’s multibillion-dollar bailout.” What we will say, though, is that Limbaugh’s a little off when he suggests that hybrid vehicles are entirely unwanted. So sayeth Rush:

Nobody’s buying ’em. Nobody wants them! The manufacturers are making them in droves to satisfy Obama! Sorry for yelling. Nobody wants them!

While it’s true that hybrid vehicle sales tend to rise and fall with the ebb and flow of fuel prices, which are currently down from the record highs from a year ago, Edmunds’ Green Car Advisor points out that 1.3 million hybrid vehicles have been sold in America since 1999, the first year the fuel-saving vehicles entered the market. Obviously, there are more than a few people out there who want to cut down on their fuel usage. Further, these hybrid vehicle programs have been in development since well before President Obama was elected.

When TransportGooru took a sneak peek into the trascripts posted on Mr. Limabugh’s website, the following golden statements caught the attention:   “I will only say that those people have probably given up their individuality for what they think is a larger cause, but nobody wants them.  That doesn’t matter, because as I mentioned earlier in the program, a couple hundred more million acres placed off-limits, energy rich, shale oil, natural gas, placed off-limits by the US Congress.  We’re gonna become more dependent on foreign oil, more dependent on foreign oil.  Gasoline prices are going to go through the roof at some point, Big Oil will be blamed by the Obama administration, and then you will be forced to start considering cars you do not want and you are not buying.  Good-bye freedom.  We have got to drive these people out of office before it’s too late. ”

TransportGooru’s research found another rushed judgement on this issue back in June 2006 , as described in a Huffingtonpost article and the author David Franklin offers his counter along the way:

Rush says that, “Contrary to any loose statements made by our marketing partners in the environmental community and media, petroleum not consumed by Prius owners is not ‘saved.’ It does not remain in the ground. It is consumed by someone else. Greenhouse pollutants are released.” I find this statement baffling! Is there a backlog of “oil orders” that lies unfulfilled somewhere that I am unaware of? Are there companies out there just waiting for people to buy more hybrids, so that they can have their oil orders taken off backorder? Not to my knowledge. Logic would dictate that if demand for oil decreases, drilling and production of oil will decrease as well!

Perhaps if it was put another way it would be easier for Rush to grasp the cold hard logic behind what hybrids can do for this nation; “If every privately owned vehicle in America was traded in today for a Prius, it would reduce the amount of oil our nation requires to a level that could be fully supported by our own resources!”

Let me say that again in case it didn’t sink in fully the first time; “If every privately owned vehicle in America was traded in today for a Prius, it would reduce the amount of oil our nation requires to a level that could be fully supported by our own resources!” (and that’s without having to drill in Alaska!)

 Dr. Roadmap Column: April 2, 2009

      For Sale: 1997 Ford Crown Victoria, 110,434 miles, white roof and doors, all else black. See auction details.

           Not your normal classified ad, is it? But then, this is not your normal car; it’s an ex-police car. 

      If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to own a genuine squad car and tool around town faking out and intimidating other motorists, a few considerations bear keeping in mind before you embark on your NYPD, Real Stories of the CHP, or Police Story fantasy. 

      First of all, perish all thoughts of piloting a look-a-like police car unless you want to get pulled over for impersonating an officer.

      “As ‘storekeeper,’ part of my job is to ensure that all hardware that identifies the car as a police unit is removed,” said Charles Alvarez of the Azusa Police Department in California. “We strip them of all the city decals. About the only thing we leave is the dual batteries, beefed up suspension and the big engine.”

Photo Courstey: Chris Sensenbach @ Flickr

      Most police departments remove and recycle the door-mounted spotlights, the rooftop light bar, the sirens and the mobile data computer (which costs about $4-5,000). Yet, it appears that you could keep the original paint job if you so choose.

      “We do not paint the doors over,” said Sgt. Doug Brown of the South Pasadena (CA) Police Department. “We definitely remove the identifying decals, but I know of no law against driving with the black-and-white paint scheme.”

      Other police departments opt to paint over the doors in the same black color as the rest of the car. But in either case, at least you gain the benefit of a car that has been outfitted for peak performance, don’t you?

      “In a lot of cases, the engine in our police cars is no different that what the average person can special order from the factory,” said Lt. Al Cheatham, of the Chino (CA) Police Department. “Yes, it is a special police package, but anyone can order it. There’s no law against it. On the other hand, most people wouldn’t like the ride; it’s too stiff.”

      Let’s say that you still long for a car driven by the long arm of the law. You actually relish the responsive suspension of a well-built vehicle. As it turns out, so do others. Many departments remain reluctant to relinquish their “rides.”

      “We try not to get rid of any car too soon,” said Rob Pipersky, a technical services officer for the Montclair (CA) Police Department. “What we do now, especially with the Caprices, is rebuild them at 100,000 miles. Some of ours have 180,000 miles on them.”

      Pipersky went on to explain that Chevrolet Caprices represent the pinnacle of police pursuit cars. In fact, so many agencies choose to rebuild their Caprices that used parts are quickly becoming scarce. Even after their second spin through the odometer, Montclair’s finest prefers to recycle their cars.

      “Some of our old cars go on to ‘lesser duty’ such as police assistance and administration,” continues Pipersky. “At peak periods, or during emergencies, we use these lesser-duty cars to augment the regular fleet. In addition, some visit the local schools or drive around the local shopping center. These daytime assignments provide a police presence. This way we get one extra year out of the cars.”

      After the last ounce of utility gets wrung from these trusty steeds, they finally get put to pasture. However, the public can only obtain these past-their-prime cars by bidding on them.

      Three other police agencies confirmed that auction is the preferred method of dumping dilapidated cars. 

      “Most agencies have these cars declared as surplus property once their service life is over, and from there they go directly to auto auctions,” confirmed South Pasadena’s Sgt. Doug Brown. “That’s what we do because these cars are not worth enough to try and sell them privately. Any vehicle coming out of the department is so worn out that I’m not sure anyone would want one.”

      Thus, Sgt. Brown brought up the most important consideration of all when considering buying an ex-squad car.

      “Think about it: You have a car that’s been driven practically 24/7, and that has close to 100,000 of odometer miles on it,” observed Chino’s Sgt. Cheatham. “Everywhere we go, the car is usually left running. Your idle time on top of the mileage is horrendous. That’s a tired engine by the time you get done with it. The suspension is no better. You have jackrabbit starts and hard braking. The car has undoubtedly been in a couple pursuits or more. When you’re going after people, those cars bottom out at the dips in the intersections. Personally, I would not want to buy one after a police agency was done with it.”

      For anyone who remains undeterred in their quest to purchase their own personal patrol car, please don’t feel bad if you missed out on the Crown Vic’ with 110,000 miles (along with eight Caprices and twenty-one other Crown Victorias) that was sold during that particular auction. Auction sites abound on the Internet, where with a little detective work you can still ID an old forgotten workhorse of a municipal PD. 

©2009, Dr. Roadmap®

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David Rizzo, better known as Dr. Roadmap,  a Commute Management expert who writes about issues such as improving gas mileage (mpg), alternate routes, traffic congestion, ridesharing, commuting behavior and intelligent transportation systems on California’s Orange Country Register.  He is well known for his comprehensive guide ever written on off-freeway commuting in Southern California, published in 1990.  Two years later he became the first traffic reporter to offer daily alternate routes in real time over the air on one of the most popular morning radio shows in Los Angeles.  His bi-weekly columns appear exclusively for TransportGooru.  This is copyright-protected content.  Please contact Transportgooru if you like to use this article or portions of this article.  Thank you.