I think I solved my mystery with the highway patrol’s new vehicles. I drove home yesterday behind an unmarked, bronze 2007 Chevrolet Impala, so new it had only been on the road for a month. If it wasn’t for the nondescript, short antenna on the trunk and clear LED panels at the bottom of the rear window (and the uniformed sargeant driving it) I might not have noticed it.
The NC highway patrol has needed a new fleet for a while now as the Ford Crown Victorias are showing their age. I heard back during one of our previous heavy snowstorms that the Crown Vics’ wheelwells aren’t large enough for troopers to use snow chains! I don’t know if that’s true or not but that’s what the media reported. I hope the Impalas are better in this respect.
[Bonus:] This is the 2,000th post to MT.Net since switching to Drupal. w00t!
My sister and her husband are Charlotte/Meck police officers. My Brother-in-law drove an Impala for a while and absolutely hated it. It had less power than the V8 powered Crown Vic, had less trunk space for all their stuff(you would not believe how much “stuff” they have to have!), and he did not like the way the front wheel drive handled. I don’t know about the snow chains either. There might be some officers that like the Impalas. Just wanted to share that will all.
I did a little web seaching and most of the officers who posted on web forums hate the Impalas, too.
When I was in Garner PD’s “citizen’s academy, “I came to appreciate how a patrol car is an officer’s mobile office. If you hate your car, that makes your job that much harder.