By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

Cruisin’ through Santa Monica yesterday, I spotted this clad BMW. I said, “hey, I gotta snap me a shot of that beast!” I pulled alongside after I shot this one, and ONLY this one. The guy took one look at me, said “Oh #@&*!!” then took off a runnin!’ I mean, I wasn’t even holding the camera!

Behind him was another one just like it and he came screamin’ by me like they both just saw a ghost. Now, I admit, I’m not the best-looking dood on the globe, but I’m no ghost either. But… I am The Fireball. So, if you mess with The Fireball, you get “spiced.” So I chased them for a bit just to make them nervous. And they drove like they were Domino’s driver about to lose $10 bucks for being late. They made about 42 violations along the way. I only made 32. Snap!

One thing’s for sure. This series BMW handles pretty well in a chase. Maybe “The Transporter” should get back IN one?

By Austin Knight

Gotadime

We all have them. Whether you got out of a ticket, got pulled over by an old high school buddy who wanted revenge, asked the lady cop for her number, or flat out ran, they’re all great stories that everyone loves to hear. So, what are some of your favorite police stories?

Image via Dart Doctor

Check out the devastation wrought by a coke-addled driver who led cops on a muddled chase through a cornfield in Holland last summer—probably thinking that if he drove long enough, he’d disappear. Industry analysts suggest that impaired drivers pose a greater threat to the world food supply than the oft-vilified ethanol industry.

Police in Charlotte, NC, attempted to tase a 10-year-old driver following a four-mile chase. Police began tailing the boy (not pictured) after they spotted him driving during the early hours of Saturday morning; but after first pulling into a gas station, the badass tot kept going, colliding with three squad cars. It was during the subsequent smack-down that the attempted tasing occurred—but because only one of the taser’s two prongs made contact, the boy was spared the nasty shock. Check out the Charlotte Observer.

We’ve all done it: absently flicking through the channels, then pausing when we hit a police chase.  Transfixed, we can’t help but linger to watch what happens. Often, the criminal loses control and wrecks the getaway car, ideally without hurting anyone. I guess I’m getting old, because when I was younger I’d be glued to the TV watching such scenes unfold. Now, I just sit there and wonder: why don’t they just tail him with the chopper and co-ordinate with ground units to follow him until he runs out of gas?

Fast-forward to 2007: the LAPD has five of these "dart firing, license plate reading, video streaming" police cars. All I can say is, finally! I’ve always thought the best thing a police car could have is some sort of grappling-hook mechanism to snag the bad guys, thereby ending the chase. However, a projectile GPS tracking dart would be a much safer choice. It hasn’t yet been fully tested, meaning they don’t know what the results will be if it pegs a human (probably painful, considering the dart contains both magnets and "self-heating glue"). All this in addition to being able to scan 5,000-8,000 license plates per shift with the car’s arsenal of high-tech cameras. These advances in law enforcement are a great step in the right direction in terms of saving lives and reducing the collateral damage that car chases can wreak on innocent bystanders (not to mention their cars). And they might very well spell obsolescence for the traditional police chase of the past. Click below to see the video!