Berlin Police rack up 400 crashes in 2 Years - BMWs

[Tim in N FL]

Hey, since when was 177hp considered "high-power"? Not since the e28 series was NEW LOL..enjoy this story.
Tim

400 Crashes in Two Years?

(posted on Reuters 2 hours, 18 minutes ago)

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin police rejected accusations Wednesday that their high-powered cars made them bad drivers, despite causing nearly 400 collisions, including 21 vehicles totaled, in two years.

Opposition leaders said the sharp accident rise coincided with police adding
260 high-performance BMWs to their fleet in 2002.

"You can't say Berlin police are bad drivers based on those statistics," a police spokesman said. "You have to differentiate. Some of those incidents were merely a wing mirror breaking off or a dented bumper."

Berlin newspapers suggested the accident numbers were so high because police were insufficiently trained to drive the 177-horsepower cars. Either that, or they were just bad drivers.



[Edit by Tim in N FL on [TIME]1107379611[/TIME]]

[BMWJustin]

that's a bit bizarre, not only because of the innaccurate statment but because I would gather that Germany teaches its Poilce Officers how to drive pretty well. After all I think they would have to have to given the high speed driving skills needed needed for the autobahn....just a guess.
TIA
Justin

[Tim in N FL]

Agreed Justin...something in the article caught my attention....that the 400 number includes even minor damage to cars (perhaps when parked?). Oh well, saw this on the Yahoo News site and caught the irony in the story and the fact that 177hp BMWs were involved
Cheers,
Tim

[Mac]

Also to the point, why would a police department of a major international metropolis need high performance cars? Perhaps I'm locked in the mindset of open american highway, but what justification do inner-city urban cops have for running full-size sedans? In Germany, don't they hold the perps on the scene until a paddywagon arrives? If so, why should beat cops and traffic cops be given anything more than "smart cars"?

You know the saying: you can outrun ford, dodge or chevy, but you can't beat motorola. Let me add to that: if Seattle were judged by as capricious a standard, it's stats would probably fall well below that of china's worst civilian drivers (a statement akin to blaming the French Revolution on a pocketknife, not the guillotine). At least 2 out of 5 SPD cars I see have some sort of routine, minor, parking-lot damage to them.