Sheriff uses 198 mph cruiser to enforce 65 mph speed limit

[babylonsister]

The taxpayers must be very happy. :eyes:


Deputies using Corvette to catch speeders
By Michael Biesecker, Staff Writer




RALEIGH -- If you plan to outrun the law in Wake County, you’d better have a very, very fast car.

Or maybe a rocket.

Wake deputies have been spotted using a black Chevy Corvette Z06 to pull over speeders on Interstate 40. Among the fastest production cars in the world, the Z06 has a base sticker price of $74,875 and a growling V8 racing engine that turns out 505 horsepower.

The car has a top track speed of 198 miles per hour, according to Chevrolet.

Though the car has set tongues wagging among Triangle sports-car enthusiasts, Sheriff Donnie Harrison declined to talk to The New & Observer about the Corvette Monday or Tuesday. He did show the car to crews from local television stations.

“You’re not going to force me to talk about anything, you understand?” the sheriff said by telephone late Tuesday, his voice raised. “I’ve got a schedule to run. I don’t sell papers.”

more...

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/v-print/story/1616313.html

[hobbit709]

Get a Ferrari and get off the Interstate.

He won't be able to figure out which way you went.

[Vinca]

1. Where, exactly, is he going to seat the "perps?"

Sheriff Donnie must have a friend in the mayor's office.

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Probably not looking to seat them. Just write big tickets - he'll

need to, in order to pay for a 75k car.

[Freddie Stubbs]

30. Probably the same place motorcycle cops do

[Stevenmarc]

2. Well at least they bought American, it could have been a Bugatti Veyron

[ThomWV]

3. There are motorcycles commonly available that will blow its doors off

For less than 1/5th as much money too.

[formercia]

4. Better wear goggles

That speed will peel back your eyelids.

[ThomWV]

5. True story for exactly a year ago

I know this happened a year ago because its an annual event that is recurring this week here.

We have a several-day motorcycle rally in a nearby town that draws tens of thousands of bikes. One of the focal points of the goings-on is the local Harley dealership. While walking through the parking lot last year I saw a fellow admiring a bike I wanted to get a better look at myself. It was a Suzuki Hyabusa - a terrifyingly fast motorcycle in stock form, and this one was much modified.

I muttered something about the bike being faster than my imagination allowed and the other fellow said this (I paraphrase from memory): He pointed at another very fast bike (R-something Kawasaki) parked about 50 feet away and said, "I just came over from Cumberland (Cumberland, Maryland, about 80 miles to the east via rural Interstate I-68) on that. I was was all tucked in comming over here on the Interstate at about 175 when out of nowhere this thing passed me like I was in reverse". The fellow was just awestruck. So was I.

On Edit: if you go to Youtube you can find a number of videos of these bikes on public roads at speeds topping out right around 240 mph.

[formercia]

7. Kawasaki makes some hot bikes

I used to own a KZ750. I was too chicken to max it out.

[ThomWV]

11. I had one of those myself

Small world, I had one of those too. To be quite honest about it I never did like the bike all that much but one thing both you are I know well - they were blindingly fast for their time; to this day it has been the fastest bike I've ever owned. I still carry scars from mine. Coincidentally, and of no meaning at all, I actually just found the Owner's Manual for it a couple of weeks ago when I was rooting through some old stuff.

[guitar man]

20. I had a KZ900

I don't know if I ever had it maxed out, but I scared the shit out of myself on it more than once :scared:

[KittyWampus]

22. hate to see what'd happen if a deer ran in front of a bike going 240 on the interstate

[formercia]

24. A locust is bad enough

I caught a big Locust between the eyes, screaming down an interstate in OK. It almost knocked me off the bike. After that, I decided a helmet was the way to go.

It doesn't take much to ruin your day when you have nothing to protect you from flying objects.

Leathers make a good body bag.

[cherokeeprogressive]

37. I caught a fat June Bug in the chest going about 115 on my ZX750R.

I had to pull off of the road, get off of the bike, and sit down. I had one of those ugly purple and yellow bruises for about two weeks.

It nearly knocked the wind out of me.

[HopeHoops]

26. "POOF"

Both would evaporate in a cloud of fur.

[ThomWV]

28. So would the deer.

[sofa king]

31. That gives me the willies at 30mph.

So far, at 30mph, I have yet to hit a living creature, but by four feet or less I have missed skunks, opossum, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, and so many deer. One night I threaded the needle between a mother deer and her fawn, with a big-ass pickup truck blocking the lane next to me. (I should also add that at 30mph, I've been outrun by rabbits and doves, of all things. Who knew they were so fast?)

If I have any advice for other riders, it's this: when you see the first deer, do your best to come to a complete stop. There is always another deer, or more than one, behind that one. You may not see it, but it's there, I promise.

Many police districts have a strict policy of not pursuing motorcyclists. Motorcyclists have a propensity for taking risks, and when pursued, they have a bad habit of getting themselves killed. If they can get your plate number, that's usually all they need, although I knew one bold lad who used to report his bike stolen every time the police got his tags.

Edit: Why 30mph? That's as fast as my 50cc scooter can go!

[XOKCowboy]

40. Hit a deer at 55mph on a bike and you're probably just as dead

I cringe when I see newbies on scooters wearing shorts and flipflops cruising around at 45 or 50 mph. Road rash from a 35mph spill can make for a very painful death. Hitting a deer at any speed on a bike isn't going to end well for the biker or the deer.

[lumberjack_jeff]

25. I used to have an 110 hp 1100 Katana.

But I found I only have about 75 hp of courage, so I sold it and bought a 75 hp bike. :hi:

[XOKCowboy]

41. LOL About the same with me...

I started out with the '82 900F. Hot bike for it's time. I only opened it up twice and then only enough to scare me. At approx 110-120 mph (approximated because back then they only had 85mph speedos) everything goes by so fast that you have to be thinking about a mile ahead at all times and not think about the jackrabbit about to cross the road, the crosswind gust you can't see or if you checked your tires for nails this morning.

I eventually sold it and bought a Kawasaki Concours. In 50K miles of touring on it I only tried it's limits once. I was in Montana when they had the reasonable and prudent speed limit and I got up to an indicated 125 mph on a long stretch of interstate and was able to maintain it for about 5 minutes before coming up on some traffic. Now that was a true rush. The rest of the day I rode about 80 and it felt like I was walking.

[Blue_Tires]

6. i know they use these more for PR than actual pursuit

but their impeccable automotive taste aside, the state will not like how their resources in a recession are allocated...

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Nice toy. What a waste of taxpayer $$$.

if it was purchased new.

[One_Life_To_Give]

10. Purchased or Seized Drug Car?

Vets and other sports cars have been getting seaized for years. Turned over to Narcotics units or auctioned off. So is this some seized vehical?

[Robb]

36. The article said the rumor is it was seized. nt

[baldguy]

12. They have to spend money to make money.

At $100 or more per ticket * 10 tickets each day, that'll pay for itself in 2-3 months.

[ThomWV]

29. You better include gasoline and some serious maintainence costs in that as well.

Know what a set of tires for that thing will run and what incredibly short milage they get out of them? Probably wouldn't pay for itself in anything less than 6 months.

[gauguin57]

13. Good to know. I will be driving on I-40 next month.

I will be on the lookout for Corvettes.

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. Check in your rearview mirror.

[DainBramaged]

14. Here in NJ where you are lucky to even do the speed limit because of traffic

the locals use Hemi Chargers,POLLlice versions and they are way more than are necessary to catch soccer moms on cell phones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTXJIj4FhlM

[Obama2012]

17. Hopefully, they don't see this article or you'll see vettes popping up

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. Sheriff seems to be closed mouthed about how he got the car

If it was confiscated from a drug dealer, he'd be crowing from the rooftop. So that means taxpayer money was involved. Wonder if concerned citizens will be asking about why the money was spent on a vehicle that is not equipped to haul away suspects, etc. Couldn't the sheriff buy two regular cruisers (which have beefed up engines to begin with) for the price of this toy?

[Orsino]

33. Something to hide, indeed.

Far too many red flags here:

County Manager David Cooke said that it is his understanding that the Corvette was seized from a drug dealer, but that he could provide no further information, such as how much county money had been spent to upgrade the car....The special high speed tires the Z06 requires have to be replaced every 10,000 miles and cost up to $1,500 a set....The car’s wide, low-slung profile makes it nearly impossible to take off road, such as would be required to cross an interstate median....The Wake Sheriff’s Office refused to comment on how its Z06 will be used or who gets to drive it. Asked Monday whether the car could be photographed, spokeswoman Phyllis Stephens said it was not available because the deputy it was assigned to was not on duty. Asked whether the deputy had taken the car home, Stephens refused to answer....A request filed early Tuesday seeking public records related to the vehicle’s acquisition was not granted....“I can get those to you at my convenience and at a time allowed by law,” Harrison said. “We’ll get you public records when I get time to get the public records to you.”

[Odin2005]

18. LOL, this is funny and pathetic at the same time.

Nobody needs a car that fast. With speed limits what's the point except for showing off?

[KittyWampus]

23. great question. I could see if owners took them to the tracks for a work out.

[melm00se]

19. Wake County

or the State Police have had, in the past, other high performance police cruisers (souped up Mustangs and before that Camaros). a car with a high rate of acceleration is, on most interstates, a requirement. (I live/drive both I-40 and 540 everyday and 100 mph is not uncommon by some drivers).

do the math: speeder passes through a speed trap at 100mph. that car covers 1.6 miles per minute or 3000 yards per minute or half a football field per second. Every second counts, if nothing else, to capture the license plate of the offender (and in NC there are plates only on the back). being able to accelerate to the point of having the ability to close on the speeding vehicle is critical from a law enforcement purpose.

As to the comment about motorcycles can "blow the doors off" a car like this; that is certainly true but there is no vehicle on this planet that can outrun a radio call.

You run from the law at your own (and other's) risk...you can end up in a world of hurt

[Stevenmarc]

21. Now Sheriff Rosco can catch that dang General Lee

[taterguy]

35. Have you ever been to Wake County?

It's one of the most educated counties in the whole damn country.

Research Triangle Park, etc.

Wilkes County is where you can make the Dukes of Hazzard stereotypes.

One of the highways there is named after a moonshiner.

Seriously.

[HopeHoops]

27. 10 years or so ago near Hartford, CT, they used Mustangs and Monte Carlo SS cruisers.

They were totally black with tinted windows and they parked them in the divider lane between the main travel lanes and the HOV lane. They just had a row of them lined up and the front car would take off after each victim.

[Marr]

32. The Sherriff needs to pay for his *own* small penis complex, rather than

expecting the taxpayers to do it. Who knows- maybe he can even get his health insurance to cover the car payment.

[KatyMan]

38. Don't know about NC, but I believe in TX

the DPS, constables, etc have to buy their own cars. Some of them have pretty fancy ones, like the Chrysler above, or mustangs.

[n2doc]

34. This way the doughnuts will still be warm

when he gets back to base!

[flvegan]

39. This thread is hilarious.

Oh, the panty twisting here!

Look, they seized the car from a drug dealer. Police depts have been doing this "tout a seriously fast car" thing for quite some time. They've done it with Vettes before. Texas had a Countach a long time ago. Oddly enough, they learned something from having a car that was fast for open road/highway chases, and in the late 80's started buying 5.0 Mustangs and then Z28s for it. It's not about top end. You'd be hard pressed to find a crim that could actually flee from anything except living at that sort of speed. It's a matter of having that low-end, gut-wrenching torque to quickly catch up to a baddie in the first place.

[XOKCowboy]

42. Colorado SP uses Camaros and now Chargers

They've gotten really sneaky here in Denver. They have a 2002 silver Dodge Intrepid. No sign it's a cop car. Stock wheels/rims, no antennas, small light bar in the tinted rear window and hidden lights in the front grille. Looks like any other aging Intrepid. It cruises around the interstates in Denver at the speed limit and picks off speeders overtaking it like fish in a barrel.

Stealth over speed. Seems to work.