Man Uses Faux Police Car to Slow Drivers

ALBANY, Ore. - Rick Pyburn was sick and tired of lead-footed motorists speeding past his home. Already, he had lost five chickens to hit-and-run drivers passing by at speeds well above posted limits.

Pyburn tried calling the police about his troubles ? but with a strapped budget, the Benton County Sheriff's Office couldn't do much to help him out.

"They're so busy patrolling, they don't have the time to sit there," he said.

Then, one day, as he watched a sheriff's car cruise by his house, Pyburn got an idea.

With the help of a local sign company, he built the front half of a two-dimensional plywood Benton County sheriff's car, and set up the decoy in some bushes near the road, in plain view of oncoming drivers.

"Once I placed that on the highway, it was amazing," he said. "The traffic immediately slowed down."

Pyburn knows that some motorists may have figured out that the car is a fake, but swears they still slow down when they see the car, which is complete with a cut-out of Pyburn's face in the "window," warning them to slow down.

"I didn't want it to be exactly like a police car, so there's a little humor there" he said. "But it's enough like a police car that it puts a little bit of doubt in people's minds."

Pyburn and his neighbors have appreciated the effect of the cut-out car so much that a newer, better faux sheriff's car is in the works.

This time he's shooting for more realism in size and shape, Pyburn said, and the updated model will be made of a weatherproof composite material. He plans to market copies of the car for residents in both city neighborhoods and rural areas.

The Benton County Sheriff's Office doesn't mind the imposter, though they would like to have more deputies on duty so that residents did not have to resort to such ingenuity, said Benton County Undersheriff Diana Simpson.