If recent reports are to be believed we may be seeing a police cruiser based on the late and great Pontiac G8 get unveiled at some point on Monday, October 5th. Make note that back in April we told you that GM would be killing off the Pontiac brand by 2011 but perhaps one of its models will live on.

The reason we point to Monday as its assumed release is because that is when the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention will go down in Denver, CO.

Of course, GM hasn’t actually said that this new cop car would be based on the G8 so until they do we will stamp this as a rumor.

via autoblog

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See, I’ve never actually used a child safety seat, but if there’s one thing I can tell from all the various reports I’ve read about them, they’re unnecessarily complex.  Either they are, or the laws governing them are, because people have to go to preposterous lengths to make sure they’re installed “correctly”.

Not long ago I described how the Pennsylvania State Police were running a child seat inspection campaign, and now I hear that Washington, D.C., will be running a similar campaign.  Here’s what one of the attendees had to say:

“I’m almost flabbergasted,” the D.C. resident said Tuesday as she stared at the newly installed seats. “After having five kids, I’ve been through the process of getting a seat and having it inspected. But I didn’t know a lot of the things I learned today.”

Five kids.  Five kids and five installed car seats later, and suddenly she’s learned more in one day than several years of actual experience.  There’s no other explanation–these seats must be ridiculously overcomplicated.

There’s got to be a way to make these things simpler and easy for already badly overworked parents to cope with.

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Now here is an unforunate and ironic story — Apparantly a NY resident by the name of George Morales died in his minivan while parked under the Brookly-Queens Expressway. His death expectedly took place in the beginning of May as the man’s daughter, Jennifer Morales, reported him missing around that time.

Now, this is sad and all but the ironic part is despite housing a dead man, NYPD officers wrote him parking tickets until he was found when the car was going to be towed.

Unless this man was laying down in the back, how could an NYPD officer have not seen a dead body sitting in the drivers seat? The world may never know.

Read (Jalopnik)

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With this new vehicle, crooks are bound to worry more since the authorities can easily sneak up to you and capture you red handed. Dade City is making use of new electric police vehicles to roam school grounds and heavily populated areas, a move that is similar to other nearby cities of the Tampa Bay area.

The battery-operated car resembles an ergonomic golf cart with a few law enforcement musts: blue lights and a Dade City Police Department emblem attached to the front. The four-wheeled GEM is one of two eco-friendly vehicles — the other is a three-wheeler called a T3 — that the department purchased in the past year using police impact fee funds.

(Source) TampaBay.com

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Car thieves should be smart enough to keep up with current anti-theft technologies, right? Well their overall smartness fails to impress us. Which is a good thing considering that we don’t want to have our cars stolen.

A man from Minnesota called 911 out more than once to brag that the cops are really bad at catching him. The car thief called the police after they have already started chasing him. Soon enough he crashed into a guardrail, abandoned the car and left on foot. Police proved him right at first as they lost track of him initially. When another man called 911 later that night concerned about a prowler on his property the law enforcers apprehended the suspect hiding in a shed. Overall score thief one, police one. Although I have a feeling the police will win this one in extra time.

via CBS

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The New York Post has recently reported that the NYPD has purchased 40 Nissan Altima hybrids that get 35 miles-per-gallon, as opposed to the 15mpg of the Crown Victoria which the fleets currect car of choice.

Other than that, the NYP says that marked cars will cost around $30,000, and $25,000 for unmarked cars, and that if the 40 already purchased cars do good they may replace the 3,200 vehicle patrol fleet currently in use.

My only worry is are these cars fast enough? The New York Post says they top out at 113mph, is that really fast enough? I mean they don’t really look as intimidating as lets say the Dodge Charger cop cars. 

Read (New York Post)

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Let’s face it, those Ford Crown Victoria cop cars aren’t that cool, hell they aren’t even gas efficient or that fast! Well, thanks to Carbon Motors that may all change come 2012.

What you see above is their E7 police cruiser, featuring a 3.0L turbocharged engine capable of 300HP, a lightweight aluminum chassis, and an MPA of 28-30 MPG. Oh did I mension it’s diesel burning?

On top of all that, it looks pretty darn mean if I do say so myself.

Read (AutoBlogGreen)

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In case you’re wandering what that car is supposed to do, I’ll be happy to let you know it’s an all terrain Russian Police car which will follow you anywhere. Those six wheels will surely master any surface and I doubt any criminals will be able to escape it. No matter if you’re downtown Moscow or somewhere far east in the middle Siberian winter, this Vityaz Transporter Police car will track you down.

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As if it wasn’t difficult enough to be a cop, it looks that our men and women in uniform had quite some troubles driving those mean Chrysler machines. Dodge Chargers and Magnums equipped with the police package and the column shifter will be sent back to Chrysler. The company recalled the cars after finding out that the proper transmission gearshift position on the dash isn’t displayed properly.

And it’s not because cops can read right, but it’s because Chrysler messed this up. About 20,000 models are being recalled from the 2006 straight to 2009 models. The whole thing will be fixed in no time. Hear that villains? You won’t find those Chargers and Magnums tailing you for a while.

via Good Car Bad Car

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Take a look at the 2009 Dodge Charger police car. Would you like to drive that or have it chase you around the streets? The Charger brings 368 horsepower to the table which is impressive. Besides the power under the hood it has a smart Multi Displacement System from Chrysler which will switch off half the cylinders in the V8. That would help you conserve some 20% more fuel.

With this Charger Police are sure to arrest more people than before. That’s because people would probably do anything to hitch a ride in that car.

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A 10-year-old boy was driving a van at 90 mph when he crashed it. In it there were his parents and two other children. His dad drank at least 15 beers while his mother was swallowing pills. Or that’s what people say.

Everyone in the van survived with minor injuries but that’s not the point.
The father has been charged with seven violations, including third offense DUI and felony reckless endangerment. Oh yeah people, in Tennessee if you own the car but don’t drive it then you’d still get charged for DUI.

Please don’t be irresponsible with your children. Don’t drink and make them drive.

via foxnews

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Some companies like Carbon Motors are interested in creating good police cars, but looking at this picture it seems they still have a lot of work to do.

According to Sgt. Neville Gittens of the San Francisco Police Department, they use Jeeps in off-road missions when traveling to Golden Gate Park. But we’re not talking about a normal police jeep that has a computer + gps + radio + etc…

In theory this is just an old-school model that is most probably used in military scenarios, but in the real world SFPD makes good use of it. I imagine how many off-road missions there are per month?

via

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Carbon Motors has announced the production of cars made “in exclusive mode” for the Police. The starting point was made this week, with the presentation of a RWD prototype that can be seen on the image.

One of the main differences between traditional police cars and the upcoming Carbon is the price. While the past cars cost around $25,000 + $55,000 of extras that include a laptop, radios, and more, the future cars will obviously cost less, because they will leave the production mode already with all the needed extras.
(more…)

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Heather Locklear was arrested Saturday afternoon in Montecito California after a patrol answered to a 911 call. Locklear was driving forwards and backwards over a pair of sunglasses and revving the engine in a parking lot.

Locklear has been taken into custody even after passing the alcohol test. A drug recognition expert concluded later that the well known actress has been under the influence of a controlled substance and she shouldn’t have been driving at all.

via Jalopnik

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