Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[VIDEO: Finnish Him: Nordic authorities' harpoon chase-ender amazingly never approved]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/27/video-finnish-him-nordic-authorities-harpoon-chase-ender-amaz/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/27/video-finnish-him-nordic-authorities-harpoon-chase-ender-amaz/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/27/video-finnish-him-nordic-authorities-harpoon-chase-ender-amaz/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Finnish police car chase harpoon -- Click above to watch video

The place is Finland. The car is a Mercedes 300 wagon. The place is Finland. The protrusion, like the figurehead adorning Ahab's Pequod, is a harpoon. Instead of catching whales, however, this harpoon was reportedly to be used to catch cars leading police on high-speed chases.

We won't even spoil it for you by telling you if or how it worked, or tell you about the extra prize for miscreants hidden inside the harpoon. Follow the jump to check it out. And then, even though the lance was apparently never adopted, we remind you: Don't get any funny ideas in Finland.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: Finnish Him: Nordic authorities' harpoon chase-ender amazingly never approved

VIDEO: Finnish Him: Nordic authorities' harpoon chase-ender amazingly never approved originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>car chaseCarChaseeuropefinlandgovernmentharpoonhigh speed chaseHighSpeedChasepolicepolice chasePoliceChasevideoyoutubeTue, 27 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[UK police in hot water for "recreating car chase for 'petrolhead porn TV']]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/16/uk-police-in-hot-water-for-recreating-car-chase-for-petrolhead/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/16/uk-police-in-hot-water-for-recreating-car-chase-for-petrolhead/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/16/uk-police-in-hot-water-for-recreating-car-chase-for-petrolhead/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,



For an episode of the show Police Interceptors, which airs on channel five in Britain, the producers wanted to recreate a police chase. But instead of throwing together some archive clips and fast-cut footage of police cars caroming through empty streets, the show gave presenter Natalie Pinkham (right) a Lamborghini and told her to take off. Then the Essex police gave Pinkham a 20-minute head start and they took off after her - speeding, blue lights flashing, the works.

Because the Lamborghini had a tracking device, the police knew how to find Pinkham, but it took them an hour. Other police forces are upset that the Essex men in blue were shown "Sitting round swapping silly jokes, drinking cups of tea and chatting up young women drivers." For their part, road safety campaigners are fuming that innocent drivers could have been put at risk, and a taxpayer's group doesn't like the Essex police subbing as extras instead of protecting the public.

In reply, a police spokesman said the chase was "a training exercise for officers in using a new tracker device." If Ms. Pinkham ever needs to try out a tracking device on this side of the world, please, let us know. We'd like to get that kind of training, too.

[Source: Daily Mail | Image: NataliePinkham.com]

UK police in hot water for "recreating car chase for 'petrolhead porn TV' originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>channel 5channel fiveChannel5ChannelFiveessex policeEssexPoliceetcnatalie pinkhamNataliePinkhampolicepolice chasepolice interceptorsPoliceChasePoliceInterceptorspursuitukThu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:00 EST<![CDATA[New police pursuit-ending device inspired by Spiderman, squid]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/20/new-police-pursuit-ending-device-inspired-by-spiderman-squid/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/20/new-police-pursuit-ending-device-inspired-by-spiderman-squid/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/20/new-police-pursuit-ending-device-inspired-by-spiderman-squid/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Click above for a walk-through of how the SQUID works

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate has been working with a research firm in Arizona that has come up with the Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID). The SQUID is designed to safely, non-lethally stop drivers trying to elude the police.

Here's how it works. The SQUID disc is placed in the middle of the road, and a remote operator triggers a two-stage explosion when the getaway car gets close to it. The first explosion sends barbed straps flying out away from the disc, which get hooked on the wheels and undercarriage when the car drives over them. The second explosion occurs when the SQUID detects engine heat directly overhead and sends a burst of "sticky tendrils" that cling the straps to the axles and driveshaft. Within 500 feet, the axles can't turn any more and the car skids to a halt.

The key now is to make it lighter, stronger and cheaper. Last year the SQUID stopped a Dodge Ram pickup traveling at 35 mph, but authorities want to be sure it will stop an F-150 at 120 mph before they'll seriously consider using it. We aren't sure that an F-150 doing a four-wheel skid at 120 mph is the safest way to bring someone in, but it is probably better than bullets. The scientists are working on that this year, and if they get it done it could give the word "dragnet" a whole new meaning.

Check out a walk-through of how the SQUID works by clicking through the gallery below.

Gallery: Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID)


[Source: DHS via Physorg]

New police pursuit-ending device inspired by Spiderman, squid originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Police in Utah observed a 26-year-old man doing donuts and wheelies in a golf cart at the city park, so they closed in on the suspect to issue a ticket. The cart driver decided that he wanted to test law enforcement in his modified super cart, so a five-minute chase through neighborhood lawns led the police and the cart-driving perp into an alfalfa field. Once there, the golf cart and its driver channeled the General Lee by jumping an irrigation ditch, leaving the police in the dust.

Unbelievably, the driver got away, at least for a day. Then next morning police arrested the driver at his grandmother's home, and he admitted to his crimes. It seems he was drunk (we know, big shock) and he didn't want to get into trouble. Good move, chief. Instead of a class B misdemeanor, the cart driver was slapped with a class three felony for evading police.

[Source: Standard Examiner via MSNBC]

Man riding modified golf cart eludes police originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>golf cargolf cartGolfCarGolfCartmodified golf cartModifiedGolfCartpolice chasePoliceChaseMon, 20 Oct 2008 18:33:00 EST<![CDATA[Stolen donut van chased by cops, LOTS of cops]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/26/stolen-donut-van-chased-by-cops-lots-of-cops/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/26/stolen-donut-van-chased-by-cops-lots-of-cops/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/26/stolen-donut-van-chased-by-cops-lots-of-cops/#commentsFiled under:

Whatever you do,kids, do not steal a donut truck and try to drive that bad boy through Tama County, Iowa. They will make it positively rain police on you. Frank Alvarado found this out the hard way when he stole a donut van from a Donut Delite driver on his rounds, and ended up on a five-and-a-half-hour run from the law.

Alvarado stole the van from Rock Island Hospital in Illinois, and then took off into Iowa, getting to Tama County before he was spotted. Before he could say "Sprinkles!", the donut thief was being pursued by five Tama County sheriff's deputies, plus four more officers from three other police agencies. And get this: one of those other officers came in his personal vehicle. As we said, you don' t mess with the donuts in Tama County. Their reward for catching this criminal: all the donuts in the van.

Actually, we really want to get Mr. Alvarado's side of the story in this, because who steals a donut (!) truck and then hauls tail hundreds of miles west? Sounds like a Cannonball Run... or something... But we feel like Franky "The Donuts" Alvarado is the key to a story even better than this one. Thanks for the tip, Alberto!

[Source: WCF Courier]

Stolen donut van chased by cops, LOTS of cops originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A wannabe race driver lead police on a 3-mile pursuit through the streets of a German town last Friday while behind the wheel of a go-kart. The 18-year-old driver had all of seven squad cars on the chase, but they couldn't keep up with the kart's high speeds through the corners. The teenager even got the slip for a brief period by tucking into an open garage. When police finally caught up, the young speed demon was charged with driving without a license and driving a go-kart on a public street, which is illegal in Germany. If driving a go-kart on a public street is legal anywhere, then we want to know, as some of us might just move there. In his defense, the rebel driver told police that he knew his actions were illegal, but he had just bought the go-kart and didn't have any other way of getting it home.

[Source: Reuters, photo by Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty]

Teenager in go-kart evades German police originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>expire-images:2008-10-27GermanyGo-KartPolice ChasePoliceChaseSun, 28 Oct 2007 18:03:00 EST<![CDATA[LAPD to use GPS projectile to chase crooks]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/27/lapd-to-use-gps-projectile-to-chase-crooks/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/27/lapd-to-use-gps-projectile-to-chase-crooks/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/27/lapd-to-use-gps-projectile-to-chase-crooks/#commentsFiled under: , ,



High speed chases with cops and robbers may make for great TV, but the dangerous activity puts lives and property in danger, and sometimes the bad guy gets away. The LAPD has some of the most elaborate pursuits ever put on tape, but the new StarChase Pursuit Management System may help them nab suspects without as much risk to those around them. The device is mounted on the front end of the police cruiser, and a laser target helps with aim. When the police have the suspect in range, they simply fire a projectile at the fleeing vehicle. Once the small GPS device, battery, and cellular radio are attached to the vehicle, the fuzz can track the perp without having them in plain site, which means the police can keep pedestrians from being a statistic.

Only time will tell if the device will truly work, but it's good to see that the Police are coming up with new technology to keep up with ever-improving criminal tech. Hit the StarChase website to check out a product video demo, it looks pretty cool, but as of right now it doesn't look like the projectile firing device kicks out enough force at high speeds for the tracking device to stick. It's a good thing that such a device wasn't in existence 30 years ago, however, because Smokey and the Bandit would have been one short, uneventful movie.

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

LAPD to use GPS projectile to chase crooks originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If one were to create of list of things needed to successfully elude the police in a chase, you'd think a full assortment of limbs would be pretty high on the list. Michael Francis Wiley, 40, from Florida would likely beg to differ. Wiley is a three-time amputee who lost both his arms and one leg in an accident when he was 13. Despite that, he taught himself how to drive with stumps and acquaintances report he can even drive stick.

Wiley practices a lot, apparently by leading police on chases through populated areas in Pasco County, FL, his most recent being last Tuesday when police approached him and he took off in a blue Ford Explorer. The police gave chase for eight minutes before backing off because bystanders were potentially in danger.

Wiley's license has been suspended so many times for prior traffic violations that even being caught behind the wheel at this point is a felony, which is no doubt what crossed his mind when he took off in his Exlporer. The St. Petersburg Times reports that this particular chase wouldn't make the cut for Most Amazing Police Chases, though in 1998, Wiley did reach speeds in a Corvette of 120 mph in a separate chase. Though Wiley got away this time, the police have likely already issued an arrest warrant and it's only a matter of time before he's brought in, assuming the New Port Richey Police can ever catch him.

The quote of the day comes from Lee Michie, another acquaintance of Wiley's who told the St. Petersburg Times, "He is one of the best drivers I've ever seen in my life. But he's the worst person I've ever met."

Thanks for the tip, BolderX!

[Source: SPtimes.com]

Armless, one-legged man proves elusive for police in downtown chase originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 May 2007 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>amputeeeludehigh speed chaseHighSpeedChaselimblesslimbsmichael francis wileyMichaelFrancisWileypolice chasePoliceChaseWed, 09 May 2007 20:03:00 EST<![CDATA[Supreme Court rules that police can chase, even if it endangers lives]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/01/supreme-court-rules-that-police-can-chase-even-if-it-endangers/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/01/supreme-court-rules-that-police-can-chase-even-if-it-endangers/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/01/supreme-court-rules-that-police-can-chase-even-if-it-endangers/#commentsFiled under: ,

Common sense dictates that if you run from the police, it will end badly. In our oft-litigious society, suing as a means to evade responsibility is a popular option. In 2001, 19-year-old Victor Harris engaged Coweta County deputy sheriff Timothy Scott in a dangerous chase on rain-slicked roads. To end the chase, deputy Scott rammed Harris's car, which then crashed down an embankment. Mr. Harris was left a quadriplegic from the injuries sustained in the wreck, and subsequently sued on the contention that the sheriff used unreasonable deadly force.

The case made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled 8-1 against Harris's claim. Lower courts had ruled in favor of Harris, but the Supreme Court overturned that opinion. The reasoning for the decision was that while police chases are dangerous, doing away with them ensures perpetrators a means of escape by merely driving erratically at high speed. Either way, there'll still be someone running from police, endangering other innocent bystanders. While the outcome of Mr. Harris's chase is tragic, it doesn't change the fact that instead of stopping and accepting a citation for travelling 73 mph in a 55 zone, he chose to run. It's terrible that someone so young will have to live out the rest of his days with paralysis, but that could have been prevented by a more thorough examination of the consequences at the time he attempted to evade the law. The most damning bit of evidence was the video of the chase, which shows how reckless Mr. Harris really was, and likely led to the near-unanimous decision from the court.

[Source: NYTimes]


Supreme Court rules that police can chase, even if it endangers lives originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 May 2007 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shelby GT Commercial

One thing that seems to be working at Ford is the advertising group's creativity. There have been some pretty clever ideas coming from those studios, and if you follow this link to the Shelby Autos website, you'll see the fruits of their labor once again. As a follow up to the Mustang GT burnout "how to" featuring the father and son in a parking garage and the GT500 "couldn't find a suitable speed limit' spot, we hope to see this one on TV as well. We're a little curious as to why they used the rental-only Shelby GT-H in the video instead of the available-to-everybody Shelby GT, but it's not like it diminishes the fun in any way. Enjoy.

[Source: Shelby Autos]

Shelby GT police chase commercial originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 02 Dec 2006 18:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Bold MovesBoldMovesFordpolice chasePoliceChaseShelby GTShelbyGtSat, 02 Dec 2006 18:17:00 EST<![CDATA[Five-0 meets F-1]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/12/five-0-meets-f-1/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/12/five-0-meets-f-1/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/12/five-0-meets-f-1/#commentsFiled under: ,

Think you could out-run a police cruiser? Think again. At least not in London.

London Metropolitan Police have apparently "acquired" two Renault F1 cars as pursuit vehicles. A police department spokesman enumerated a number of potential problems, including the noise, fuelling up, the overwhelming performance, no space for equipment, and the fact that none of their donut-engorged officers could possibly fit in the cockpit, let alone drive it.

Related posts:

[Source: Pistonheads]

Five-0 meets F-1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chasecopsf1highway patrolHighwayPatrolpatrolpolicepolice chasePoliceChasepursuitrenaultTue, 12 Sep 2006 20:15:00 EST