NYPD Wants to Replace its Scooter Fleet with Smart Cars

The NYPD wants to replace its fleet of three-wheeled scooters with Smart cars, officials said Wednesday, reports the New York Daily News .

The single-passenger Mercedes-Benz vehicles, about the size of a clown car, will be painted like NYPD cruisers and could roll out en masse later this month, officials said.

"They're midget cars, I guess you can call them," Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said. "We have acquired a number of them to test them out. Actually, in many instances they are more maneuverable than the scooters. They're also cheaper, interesting enough."

Nine Smart cars — at a cost of $119,000 — have been purchased for the pilot program, but only one so far has been put on patrol, in Central Park.

Within weeks, the cars will be placed in the NYPD's parking and school safety divisions and meted out to precincts throughout the five boroughs.