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NYPD To Replace Motor Fleet With Electric Scooters
XueCast writes "A few days ago, the New York Police Department, one of the largest police forces in the US, announced that they are planning to make New York greener by replacing their gasoline motorcycle fleet with the super-quiet and energy efficient electric scooters from Vectrix.
NYPD said that they will first road test four electric scooters from the Rhode Island-based electric vehicle manufacturer next month, and if the road test is a success, NYPD said that they plan to order more electric scooters from Vectrix to replace their less-than-green motorcycle fleet."
Motor fleet = Car fleet Motorcycle?
I'm so scared!
Yes it's sarcasm.
They look so metrothexual.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
Stop linking to blogs whose sole purpose is copy+pasting content from other sites and link to the source
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
Why spend $11,000 on new motorcycles when that sort of investment in more efficient police cars would have a much greater environmental impact? (Not to mention savings at the pump) Traditional motorcycles don't use that much gas, and can easily get 2-3 times the mpg of a car. Halving the energy consumption of a motorcycle is nowhere near as interesting as halving the energy consumption of a car.
This is NOT exactly the vehicle that one would really consider for any sort of high speed chase. Or hell, think of them on an interstate.
But still I'm sure they have their practical uses.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
What do motorcycle cops do that those in cars can't? Is it simply their ability to go down narrower spaces, or are the motorcycles useful for more than that? Is it simply space saving over cars?
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
Electric scooters are great for taking out pedestrians Carmageddon style. Those pesky petrol based ones make too much noise and people don't step out in front of you. Helps too if you wear nice black leathers so as to reduce your visibility.
Australian running a company that does C# / C++ / Java / SQL / Python / Mathematica
"Stop linking to blogs whose sole purpose is copy+pasting content from other sites and link to the source [cnn.com]"
Yeah! Stop linking to slashdot. Oh wait!
They'd be discarding the old fleet of bikes then..wonder if I could get em' cheap..hmmm
Public safety should never be something that gets compromised by poorly thought-out "green" initiatives.
"NYPD To Replace Motor Fleet With Electric Scooters" should read, "NYPD to Test Electric Scooters."
Yeah, they're big motorcycles. They only get 45 mpg in the city, and that's observed fuel economy, not some Science-Fiction EPA rating.
So, let's replace the most fuel efficient motor vehicle the NYPD has in the fleet because it's "less than green" and let's keep those cars, trucks, vans, helicopters, and who-knows-what else. You know, for the children.
4 wheels, small size and running on electricity - Electric wheelchair !
"What do motorcycle cops do that those in cars can't?"
Freeze to death in the middle of winter. Fly gracefully over the hood of a car in an accident. Be able to fart without one's partner commenting on it. Pop wheelies.
With a maxium speed of 60 and a range of 68 miles at 25 mph what's the point? Either they are for chasing pedestrians or motorcycle escorts. The speed is only adequate for city streets for short trips. I'm assuming they are intended for traffic and parking tickets and are more a replacement for for the old Cushman type vehicles. They are hardly a replacement for motorcycles. They could servie some of the purposes that mounted officers did but they lack the high visibility that was a benificial feature of being on horseback. I really wish the article had gone into the intended use because it is a puzzle.
while the 'mainstream' media spews terabytes of trivia, minutia & mindphuking pr ?firm? scriptdead propaganda, we're being 'cautioned' to decrease our diet of information intake? what a surprise?
maybe if inf. that was relevant/useful was available ahead of/instead of the crap regarding commercial bait & blunders, we would have less trouble staying focused on 'stuff that matters'. it all reads like some bad geogewellian paperback to us, as we're informed that the next 'glorious victory' is at hand. does anyone recall who hitler's favorite 'enemy' was? eye gas it's really relative to what does matter/is of value for many of US. almost nothing for some.
better days ahead. see you there?
Given the population density of New York isnt it time to setup city wide (or at least the financial district wide) people mover belts like you find at the nicer International Airports (Dubai and Frankfurt spring to mind). These would be hyper efficient as only the thing which needs to be moved i.e. a person weighing 200 pounds instead of moving a big iron box weighing tons aka a car.
These used to be a staple of futuristic SF stories - wonder why it never caught on - the technology is definitely there(in airports)
On a side note if people are using conveyor belts the cops dont need motorcycles to catch perps - just get on the hyperfast conveyor belt lane reserved for emergencies.
**Life is too short to be serious**
Seriously, NYPD. Scooty Puff Juniors suuuuucckkkk~~~
I wouldn't try running from the Oklahoma police. Perhaps the cops should switch to these:
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/25/suzuki-hayabusa-police-interceptor/
The electric scooters are replacing non-electric scooters. They are not replacing non-electric motorcycles.
There are police on foot, police on segways, police on bicycles, police on horseback, police on motor-cycles, police in patrol cars, police in interceptor cars, police in trucks, and, yes, police on scooters.
What I think is stupid, is being assumptive of the role involved and the needs without doing so much as actually even reading the article first.
Personlly, in my experience with law-enforcement, there is too often the purchase of too much vehicle... usually with the "that's what we normally get". There's really no need for a V8 in a Manhattan patrol car (or taxi, which are also generally Crown Vics with V8s that spend most of their time at a near-stand-still), no one goes that fast there. If you are highway patrol out here in FL, then you do need a large engine because 120mpg chases can happen.
No, No, No and NO.
.. not mentioned ?
There is a difference beetween over-greenish-actions and real "green" actions.
1.)
these Motorcycles are not "green", as long as the power to charge them
is generated by non-green powerplants.
2.)
the emission is just placed somewhere outside N.Y., looking at the overall emission
of NY, these Motorcylces are the minor part.
3.)
while it's a good idea(*) to use these E-Cycles in high traffic areas
it's not a good idea to use them for patrol, because of their limited
range
25mph -> Range ~68miles
65mph -> Range ~
they need to be charged to often.
(*) Electric Systems have a nearly zero-time power-up and are more efficient than
their gasoline brothers, in short, "good for Stop-And-Go"
The most fuel efficient vehicle, depending on how you want to define it, is either the footman, the officer on bicycle (vehicle), or the office on the Segway (powered vehicle).
You speak as though it's an either/or propisition. We should not replace the scooters because the existing ones are more efficient than the motor-cycles. Then I suppose we should not replace the motor-cycles as they are more efficient than the cars, which are more efficient than the trucks, which are more efficient than the helicoptors, which are more efficient than some of the large boats/small ships the NYPD uses.
So we can't do anything unless we do the worst first? That's silly.
If electric scooters prove appropriate for the job, let's applaud the improvement and use it as an example to encourage more. If they prove inappropriate in testing, let's applaud the attempt but do something else for this instance.
...to slow down a little bit, pretty please! vroom vroom
So will we be seeing Detectives: Green, Stabler, Benson, Munch, Tutuola, Goren, Eames and Logan riding around on these?
But... This is slashdot.
Not reading the article, then anonymously posting stupid and offtopic comments is what you're supposed to do!
No. An average bike does 0-60 in about 2.5 seconds. A Harley takes 5, but Harleys are shite bikes, not average ones. How can a 160kg bike of the same performance 160kg? You must be kidding. Harleys weigh closer to 300kg. Sorry , something doesn't add up. Yeah, you're talking shite.
Deleted
It's funny because it's true. ;-)
More civilized times? You know, when there were Jedi! And lightsabers!
http://xkcd.com/297/
You will respect my authorati. Oh, wait, its an electric scooter, not a tricycle (close enough).
Presumably they'll be building a police-spec model with extra batteries, crash protection (crash bars and maybe even a good back pad), etc?
:/
And I can't see this replacing highway patrol bikes, not enough speed.
I just hate to think they'd replace bicycle patrols too
Two corrections.
:-)
1. Have you ever been in NY City before? Saying that the Taxi and Police Car doesn't need to be that fast since they don't go that fast ignores the reality. A Taxi ride is generally a very fast, high acceleration game. The light turns green and it is a race to get through as many lights as possible before they all go red again. Many times it is a full on acceleration, pedal to the floor type event.
2. FL officers need vehicles that go 120 miles per hour, not miles per gallon.
This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood MBA.
1) Sounds exceedingly dangerous. What's the top speed limit on the island? Even 45 sounds pretty fast for those streets (downtown here is 35-40), and a 4-cyl Honda Accord is going to manage that in about 5 seconds.
:-)
Are there really a lot of high-speed chases through the middle of the city where apprehension is the result of running down the suspect? It seems the traffic and police density are far to high for there to be a need for every officer with a car to be in an interceptor-type vehicle.
2) Both would be nice, but you are correct.
and a special modification for the NYPD, a special rack to carry the toilet plunger.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Louima
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its on all their street bikes.
The issue in NY is that you cannot use bikes year round.
If you want them to be really environmentally considerate let them bring horses back to the whole city!
My only beef with being friendly to the environment, if these vehicles truly are from manufacturing to disposal, is that they make it seem all so nice. The key is that city officials are the ones raking in the glory for their actions while its the tax payers who should get credit. It is very easy to be magnanimous on someone else's dime
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
PPL are losing respect for the police, not for law and order. They would very much like to see it. The problem is that we have too many corrupt police, combined with police brutality. Even in the gangs, they know that they can buy more and more cops. And half of those that they can not buy, will beat them if given a chance.
As to the gun, the vast majority do not respect it. They fear it. That is two very different concepts. It is also part of the reason why more and more criminals are getting bigger guns.
Want ppl to respect the police? Then the police need to enforce the laws on themselves.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Great, now they will burn less gas as they arrest cyclists engaged in LEGAL peaceful protest. I think a sentence mentioning the NYPD's violent attacks on critical mass every month since the RNC would add a bit of perspective. I wonder if the tasers they use run on rechargeable batteries too.
C'mon - this is Slashdot. Folks don't need to read the articles! Regardless of the topic, they know more than anyone about any subject.
...I once heard: Mopeds are like fat chicks. They're fun, but you wouldn't ever want your buddies to see you riding one.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
The NYPD has used scooters for years; they're great in congested areas. They probably like this thing because it's quiet.
The NYPD doesn't do many car chases. NYC is too crowded. They prefer to get a few units into position ahead of the vehicle being pursued.
Horses? What about all the crap?
-Darkshadow (There was a thing called Heaven; but all the same they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol.)
The more the merrier, if that's what it takes to keep crime down. Chemotherapy may kill many healthy cells, but if it saves the organism, so be it.
Simon Phoenix unavailable for comment.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
Motorcycle fleet => electric motorcycle fleet => Judge Dread!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dredd_(film)
I can see it now - Judge Judy on one of these motorcycles spreading justice in the NY badlands.
I am not certain that I agree with the bit about the Controlled Substance Act, but I can see where our copyright actions are going to backfire. All in all, both these acts took away liberties and made them criminal, in the same fashion that anti-alcohol did. The prohibition era lead to some very wild actions by otherwise very normal citizens.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Scooters suck. That is a fact. If you ride a bike, you know how unstable a scooter is combined to a real bike. Just how you sit on a scooter makes it 10x less drivable.
In fact, for city and countryside use, the most useful layout is the one similar to an Enduro bike. You sit straight up, so you can see the traffic, and over cars, and if needed (police does) you can go down and up on stairs, and even take it offroad.
Actually in many Latin American countries the police uses enduros exactly for this reason, and use the bigger bikes for the highway patrols. Notice that the cruisers used as highway bikes also give the rider a better view of the whole situation.
So if I might ask: why the hell are they giving these small wheeled instable things to the police. Also why does electric always automatically mean: ugly ergonomic wannabe plastic bubble?
I can imagine an electric enduro/supermoto bike. Could look awesome, be fast and stable. You can also put a plexi glass on it (think KTM enduros) if that does anything good in police use. I personally never missed a plastic/plexiglass shield between me and the road, but I do not spend the whole day on a bike either.