Camaro News & Notes
NC Highway Patrol
by Scott Settlemire
Going on vacation this summer? Gonna visit North Carolina? (one of my favorite vacation haunts)......well, beware of that other Camaro behind you or in front of you.... We're pleased that North Carolina chose Chevy Camaro to patrol the highways and byways of that State.......
COPS USE SPEEDY CAMAROS TO KEEP PACE RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA (AP)
State Troopers have a new way to keep up with the bad guys at high speed -- and in high style. The Highway Patrol is getting ready to train officers to drive over 100 new Camaros that have a top speed of 159 mph, compared to 125 mph for standard Ford Crown Victoria cruisers.Training starts next month and the Camaros ...most painted black with silver stripe, should be patrolling North Carolina Interstates in August. Patrol officials said the car, which accelerates from zero to 100 mph in 14 seconds instead of the Ford's 25 seconds, will put troopers in charge of highways populated with souped up sports cars and other high-performance vehicles. "Some of your foreign six-cylinder cars will dust some of these Crown Victorias" chief driving instructor David Boone says. "Times have changed. We're just trying to keep up with what everybody else has now." The Camaros are fuel-efficient as well -- 26 miles per gallon compared to 21 for the Ford. Each costs $20,400, about $200 less than the Ford.
Troopers at the track said they were also impressed by the Camaro's strong braking power. The cars will have radar that detects speeders in front of or behind the cruiser. Most driver training will be on the twisting test course in Raleigh, but the patrol also will use a section of unopened four-lane highway in Chatham county for high speed training.
"The low profile will be helpful" said Maj. Raymond Isley, director of training for the patrol. "Some people will run up on it without seeing it. Then you're in real trouble. Worse than that, you could blow past one." North Carolina isn't the first state to use Camaros for pursuit vehicles. Neighboring South Carolina has used them for years and they also are in use in New York, Texas, Montana, and California. (Ed. note: Camaros have been sold to thirty-eight states as well as several agencies within the Federal Government for law enforcement.)
Critics have said faster police cars don't make chases any safer. Geoffrey Alpert, a criminal justice professor at the University of South Carolina and author of studies on chases for the National Institute for Justice, said faster police cars only raise the risk to the public. "if deadly force is worth it, use deadly force." Alpert said. "But a chase at speeds at which these Camaros can go is not only a risk to the trooper, but to the suspect and the motoring public." But patrol officials insist a fast car will stop a fast driver more quickly. "If he doesn't think he has a chance to elude arrest, most of the time he will pull over," Isley said.