18 replies to this topic

[Hum]

A German police force that spent €25 million on new sporty cars found that not only was the visibility rubbish for chases - the fancy seats were so narrow the cops could not get in while wearing their guns, truncheons and other equipment.

The embarrassing mishap came to light in a poll conducted by police union GdP, which showed that many officers in the western German state of Hesse preferred their old wheels – the Opel Zafira.

The Hesse Interior Ministry ordered 800 of the swish new models – Opel's Insignia Sports Tourer – in a long-term deal at the end of 2010. The ministry says that 200 of the cars have been delivered so far, but it is yet to be decided whether the order will be completed.

GdP deputy chairman Lothar Hölzgen accused the ministry of not testing the seats before the order was made.

The limited view through the back window was also a major problem for the police, said Hölzgen. "I need to see out of the back every minute, every second," he said. "That's a safety matter for us."

The ministry insisted that the car had been tested prior to the order. "The results did not point to any lack of suitability for police service," a ministry spokeswoman told regional broadcaster HR. She added that the ministry was aware of the problem.

source

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[+djdanster]

Lol, fail!

[ybrett23]

i saw the title and instantly thought "only in america" where all the donut eaters are to big for the seats.
lol

[shakey]

ybrett23, on 16 April 2012 - 18:52, said:

i saw the title and instantly thought "only in america" where all the donut eaters are to big for the seats.
lol

I was right there with you man lol

[+littleneutrino]

makes you wonder who they had testing the vehicles.

[tHaCuBe]

littleneutrino, on 16 April 2012 - 18:59, said:

makes you wonder who they had testing the vehicles.

+1

[DocM]

littleneutrino, on 16 April 2012 - 18:59, said:

makes you wonder who they had testing the vehicles.

+2

Answer: bureaucratic MORONS.

Before our city bought prowl cars they took the biggest, shortest (a gal) and tallest officers on the force and had them try out the options with full gear in place including body armor.

[neufuse]

ybrett23, on 16 April 2012 - 18:52, said:

i saw the title and instantly thought "only in america" where all the donut eaters are to big for the seats.
lol

that's odd, first thing I thought was no way its in the USA because we basically standardized police cars amount certain models.. was for the longest thime the Crown Victoria now its a lot of dodge chargers, larger suv's etc... police cars here are usually not small cars

they make special "police interceptor" models that are usually supercharged engines and larger bodies

[FMH]

Now that, is some cool looking polizei!

[DocM]

Ford stopped producing the old reliable Crown Victoria Interceptor at the end of 2011 (2012 model year) and is now offering a Taurus Interceptor. Westland has the Crown Vic's now and will probably move to the Taurus as they hit their use limits.

Taurus Interceptor engine options -

3.5-liter V6: 290 hp
3.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost SHO: minimum 365 hp (Twin Turbo 4-wheel drive)
2.0 liter EcoBoost Turbo: 230 bhp

Taurus Interceptor pics attached.

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[neufuse]

DocM, on 16 April 2012 - 20:13, said:

Ford stopped producing the old reliable Crown Victoria Interceptor at the end of 2011 (2012 model year) and is now offering a Taurus Interceptor. Westland has the Crown Vic's now and will probably move to the Taurus as they hit their use limits.

Taurus Interceptor engine options -

3.5-liter V6: 290 hp
3.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost SHO: minimum 365 hp (Twin Turbo 4-wheel drive)
2.0 liter EcoBoost Turbo: 230 bhp

Taurus Interceptor pics attached.

Our local state police and local town police along with the local sherrif all went to dodge chargers for their cars, definatly look odd when you had crown vic's for ever

[Glassed Silver]

Lol... that's my State haha...

I think the new cars are sexy, but boy, they had better made sure the model's good to go for this job.

We've had a police car once (with the painting and all that removed for resale) and it was an Opel (or Vauxhall to some countries)...
As their HQ and many of the manufacturing is here in Hesse, they got the deal with the State I guess...

Afaik, every State embraces its brand of cars around here, so you'll find BMW and even Smart police in Bavaria, Mercedes would possibly be found in Baden-Württemberg, VW/Audi in Lower Saxony, etc...
Not every State has a brand, so they'll pick others, and yes, it's not purely one brand to one State even, I don't even know whether it's done like that, but as far as my perception/discoveries are concerned, it's done like that in Hesse and Bavaria at least (never paid close attention though).

Now, the fail is hard in this one and I hope they sort this out lol...
If I find local articles in our newspaper about it, I might post it lol

Glassed Silver:mac

[Simon-]

Are the Chevrolet PPV's gaining any traction in the US?

[+Vice]

DocM, on 16 April 2012 - 20:13, said:

Ford stopped producing the old reliable Crown Victoria Interceptor at the end of 2011 (2012 model year) and is now offering a Taurus Interceptor. Westland has the Crown Vic's now and will probably move to the Taurus as they hit their use limits.

Taurus Interceptor engine options -

3.5-liter V6: 290 hp
3.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost SHO: minimum 365 hp (Twin Turbo 4-wheel drive)
2.0 liter EcoBoost Turbo: 230 bhp

Taurus Interceptor pics attached.

That is one sweet looking ride.

[+hedleigh]

Vice, on 18 April 2012 - 01:29, said:

That is one sweet looking ride.

View isn't as good from the back seat though!