They call them the Seaside Five. Five Welsh police officers who took squad cars gallivanting to seaside resorts across the UK for bragging rights. Rumor has it that one trip may have gone as far as Paris.

The funny thing is that distance is all relative. The officers went to places that were more than 30 miles away. Here in Toronto, the story goes that there was a similar contest amongst Toronto officers. Way back when, the Toronto police had Z28 pursuit cars that were essentially the same package as the Player’s Challenge Series race cars. These puppies were fast! Trips to Niagara Falls were allegedly common place, with officers taking polaroids of themselves to prove that they had made the trip. There were stories of take out chicken wings being procured from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo and even a trip to the casino in Windsor! To put the Windsor trip into perspective as compared to the Brits, that is roughly a 230 mile one way trip! The only difference is that the Canucks were smart lucky enough not to be caught by the media.

Have you ever flashed your high beams to warn oncoming drivers of a radar trap? Like many of us, it is likely that you have.

In essence, the job of police is “To Serve & Protect”. That should mean that slowing speeders down is the goal of radar traps. Unfortunately, most police departments are under funded so the radar trap becomes a much needed source of revenue. What happens when Joe Citizen warns a fellow motorist of a speed trap? Well, that really ticks off the guys who have been given a sales target for the day’s shift and they respond with a ticket for the unsuspecting good Samaritan. But is it legal?
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Early Monday morning, Edmonton police received a call about a potential drunk driver. Upon finding the vehicle in the town of Ponoka, south of Edmonton, Canada’s finest began a 40 km chase when the driver refused to stop. During the chase, speeds reached up to 170 kmh (105 mph). The Mounties finally deployed 2 spike belts that brought the offender to a stop. It turned out that said offender was only 12 years old!

Apparently the kid was arrested and charged with several things, including dangerous driving and taking a vehicle without consent. It is unfortunate that they can’t send his parents in as well for failure to control the fruit of their passion!

Via CBC

In general, I’ve always found Toronto’s finest to be a pretty good bunch of guys. Every now and then though, you hear a story that just makes you wonder who peed in who’s corn flakes.

It seems that TPS pulled over Dean Baldwin while he was driving Michel de Broin’s Shared Propulsion Car. This is no ordinary car though. The drivertrain has been removed from the Rusty Regal and been replaced with pedal power. So what was he pulled over & ticketed for? Driving an unsafe vehicle.

Considering that a car does not have to have an engine to pass a DOT inspection here in Ontario, that seems a little silly. That said, the votive candle headlamps certainly wouldn’t pass, nor would the hole in the floor. Really though, does this thing pose that much of a threat?

Via TTAC

Which police cruiser is the most likely to pull you over?

A. Dodge Charger

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First let me preface what I am about to present to you by stating that if you speed, you certainly deserve a ticket. If you want to race your street car or test its performance go to a SCCA or NASA event.

With that said, nothing is more annoying that being “set-up” for a violation by unsuspectingly driving through a speed trap. I got caught in one in Vermont a few years back that cost me $300. I was basically keeping up with traffic when I got yanked. I paid the 300, which was way inflated for the violation and pledged never to return to the state, and I haven’t.

Now, with all of that said, and American Thanksgiving just around the corner, we turn to the National Motorists Association who has prepared a list of the worst speed traps in all fifty states.

The results were based on a pole of motorists taken over the last two years. So, if you are traveling by car during the holiday don’t get caught in a “turkey shoot.”
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Want to get a 2008 Impreza for a steal? Here’s a scratch your head story from Dealers Edge, a trade publication I enjoy reading.

After hiring 20-year-old Benjamin Hammac as a sales trainee, Bennington Subaru’s sales manager (Bennington VT) had him study the Subaru products. On his second day at the dealership he was given a product knowledge written test. Obviously having difficulty with the test, Hammac asks for a break, goes outside and never comes back.
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I have been on some wild rides in my days, some fun, some not so fun and some just plain crazy but all made for great conversation. Now this guy is going to have one of the best ice breakers of all time… “Did I ever tell you about time my wheelchair got stuck in the grill of an 18 wheeler?”
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Thanks to the keen eyes over at Jalopnik for finding this gem. Somewhere down south, there’s a town called Freetown & they got’s themselves a real cool squad car. It’s even got those cool police issue center caps. This takes me back to high school, tooling around in my neighbour’s beige Pacer with the horrid houndstooth cloth seat covers.

Imagine the scene. Police are involved in a high speed pursuit. The driver is armed and dangerous & you close down an area to prevent any injuries to some innocent bystander. Then along come a couple of smart ass local celebs who are determined to get down their street. What do you do? You book em Danno!

Albuquerque, New Mexico. Those locals are none other than Bobby and Al Unser. Coming home and who the heck do yall think you are? We’re the Unsers…we don’t have to stop for your silly road block. We are the arrogant local heros.

Oh yes…the guy the police were chasing shot himself.

source CNN