| Police Car Special Edition | Lotus Exige S Police Car |

The East Sussex police force has acquired a Lotus Exige S as part of its aim to clamp down on young drivers who break the law. Whilst hitting 60mph from standing in 4.3 seconds and boasting supreme handling dynamics, it's not the outright ability of the Lotus during high speed chases the force is keen to emphasise, but rather its ability to generate conversation.

Sergeant Paul Masterson explains: "Rather than send a standard response unit to the scene of a disturbance caused by young drivers getting together and doing doughnuts, we want to talk to the young drivers. We talk about the car, its performance and their cars. Once the barriers are down we can talk to them about more serious road safety issues."

Using a similar strategy already seen with motor bikes, the East Sussex force hopes to reduce the current figure of one third of all accidents in their vicinity involve 17-25 year old drivers. And it appears to be working, since reports suggest that figure is already falling. The Lotus can claim at least some credit then.

Kitted in full police guise, the Exige S drew crowds at Lotus's 40th anniversary celebrations in June, and will do likewise with an appearance at the MPH07 Show in November.

Kyle Molyneux - 30 Oct 2007