The Paulding County Police Department has jurisdiction over a 15 mile slab of pavement. This miniaturized version of a common road is called the Silver Comet Trail. A pedestrian friendly path that has become as popular as it can sometimes be dangerous.
There have been muggings, rapes, several severe accidents that required hospitalizations, and even a murder. Keep in mind, we’re talking about a piece of pavement that serves hundreds of thousands of people from northern Alabama to Georgia annually so we’re not talking about a place that’s Crack Central. It’s low crime, but definitely enough to require an officer at the ready.
The only problem? It’s about 7 feet wide and has two lanes of traffic that is packed full of everyday citizens during the late afternoons and weekends. There are walkers, joggers, bicyclists, and people who walk their wayward family members whether they’re young toddlers or older dogs. It’s tough to police. You can pretty much forget about putting a Dodge Charger Police Interceptor out there. You need something that’s quicker than a golf cart, but smaller than a Nissan LEAF.
This is why this Smart Fortwo serves amazingly well. I have seen this police interceptor serve as the biggest hulking mass of metal and plastic for several years now on the Silver Comet Trail. What I didn’t expect to see is to have it serve on the open road as well.
Yesterday there was a nasty accident in front of my dealership (video) where a 2014 Ford Fusion smashed into the back end of a 10-year-old Hyundai Accent. The impact was so hard that the small Hyundai did a complete 180 and got hit on three separate sides.
Thankfully the only things that were forever damaged were the two cars; that Hyundai was surprisingly strong. However, I didn’t expect to see a Lilliputian police cruiser to handle the incident.
I know that in New York City, the police department uses Smarts to handle light duty work such as the ticketing of cars and the blocking of streets. Police work is complicated, and sometimes you need a unique tool to handle a special need.
So what do you think would be a few good uses of a Smart police car? Could you see a Brabus Edition as a perfect fit for some high speed pursuits? Or maybe put an outside steel cage in the rear that can handle the true criminals of our time? The old saying “Humiliation is worse than death.” would be an apt description of that experience. What says you?