Texas Police Use Corvette Tech to Catch Street Racers
I doubt Chevrolet had this in mind when they were developing the Performance Data Recorder (PDR) feature available in the new C7 Corvette, but it certainly should serve as a warning to illegal street racers.
The high-tech video system that records everything from the Corvette’s speed to scenic drives was recently used in a sting operation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Texas to catch illegal street racers, which included some Corvette owners.
In the Harris County Sheriff’s PDR video below, which was posted to YouTube, the covert Corvette recording the street racers can be seen tailing three other Corvettes that reach speeds of 100 mph.
Christina Garza, the manager of media relations for the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, told Corvette Forum that while Corvettes were not specifically targeted in the sting, a Corvette equipped with PDR technology did significantly help with the operation.
“Street racers are not going to race if they see a marked unit,” said Garza.
The Harris County initiative was held March 20, the same weekend as TX2K, one of the nation’s biggest drag racing events, which was held in Baytown this year.
Garza said the Corvette used in the Harris County sting was a private vehicle owned by one of the department’s deputies, reiterating that Corvette owners were not the focus of the operation.
“This racing initiative was not targeting Corvettes,” she said. “It was targeting street racing, period. That’s simply the video that we decided to release.”
The Harris County spokesperson said they used GoPro cameras, and cell phones as well, to capture illegal street racers during the sting, which led to the arrest of eight people.
Marked police vehicles were also used in the Harris County initiative.