Italian police have crashed the pride and joy of their transport fleet – a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 which is said to have been the world’s most expensive vehicle at 165,000 euros [£150,000]. First reports of the accident say that it happened when a Seat driver pulled out of a service station carelessly.
The police vehicle, on its way home from a safe driving seminar near Cremona, swerved to avoid the Seat and in doing so crashed into a line of parked cars. So powerful was the impact that one of these was catapulted onto the roof of the Lamborghini, which is reported to be a write-off.
The Lamborghini company, based in Sant’Agata Bolognese but owned by the German car manufacturers Audi since 1998, presented the Polizia di Stato with two of the state-of-the-art cars in 2004 for the 152nd anniversary of the force and last year one of them was replaced by an even more up-to-date model. As luck would have it, this is the one that crashed.
The vehicles could accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 4 seconds and travel at 200 mph. They were used for patrolling the roads in and around Bologna but also for transporting live organs and plasma from hospital to hospital and for carrying patients who have suffered cardiac arrest to hospital.
Police officers authorised to drive the Lamborghini vehicles have been specially trained to do so. One of the officers involved in the accident has broken a rib whilst the other has suffered bruising. In 2008 there were over 4,700 fatalities in road traffic accidents in Italy and 28% of those killed were under 30 years of age.
You may find the following images upsetting, since they show the Lamborghini Gallardo Polizia crash:
