Public/police idea of 'high speed'

[Jazzbass 1]

This is a fairly typical story about the 'high speeds' experienced during a police chase. To me 140kph is not even close to high speed. Even my E36 318 auto waited until 160kph before changing into top (in S mode and foot hard down, of course). Come to think of it, I had to have my foot hard down about 90% of the time just to get it to do anything.

Back on topic- IMO 140kph is NOT a high enough speed for the police to abandon a chase on the open road. In this case the kid died and since he stole the car, I have zero sympathy for that. Thieves are scum and I'm glad when they exit the gene pool.

What speed do you think the police should abandon a chase at (assuming good weather and light traffic etc)?

The 19-year-old, believed to be driving a stolen vehicle, died instantly when the car failed to take a sharp bend, left the road and struck a tree stump in a roadside ditch near Waipukurau.

The crash happened about 3am on Saturday on Racecourse Rd.

A police patrol had earlier tried to stop the Toyota Corolla sedan because of a "dangerous driving incident" in Waipukurau.

The driver took off and was pursued for about five kilometres at speeds of up to 140km/h before the fatal crash.

A police statement said the patrol car was about 500 metres behind the Toyota when it veered off the road.

Hastings area commander Inspector Dean Clifford would not comment on why the pursuit was not abandoned given the high speeds involved till he had more information. But he said the male constable involved had been in contact with the police communications dispatcher who was managing the pursuit and it appeared correct procedures were followed.

[TronSpec 0]

Mate I bet you they didn't even abandon the pursuit. They just covering their arse's again cause the little f**ker died.

Shet I don't want to gloat but in my younger days I have ran from the cops in my honda integra 1800cc vtec on two different occasions and got away and they looked for me all night and the next day. Fact of the matter was that my shitty honda was faster and handled better than those big lazy commys and I knew the roads and I counldn't drive for sh*t.

In that drivers case I bet that toyota levin he was driving probably was getting away from the cop and it was just that the little f**ker crashed.

Answering your question jazzbazz I think there should be no real speed limit in a pursuit and should all come down to circumstances and like you said whether and traffic conditions. sh*t I bet there's some cops out there that would keep chasing a ferrari until it ran out of gas or crashed even though they'd never catch it. Know what I mean... fukin cowboys some of them

[Carl 3]

MrHamWallet, I get the feeling you should be posting on some other site with posts like that, I personally don't think anyone should attempt to out-run the police and put other motorists in danger, no matter how bullet-proof you 'think' you are.

Unfortunately most of these crims have stolen cars so abandoning the pursuit has more than one negative, however, while I think 140 is not too high, 180 is and that's when the cops cause crashes and cause public backlash.

Bring back more CHiPs officers I say

[petone 0]

Do you honestly think any f**kwit that is on the run in a stolen car gives a sh*t about other motorists? Hurting someone else is probably the least of their concerns.

Far to many factors to really have a speed limit for pursuits, eg motorway or country lane? How serious is the crime? How likely are they to catch him later on?

Basically , if the cops are chasing an escaped murdurer along the motorway in the middle of the night then its fair enough to go as fast as the have to. However, chasing some 14yo who took his mums corolla and then failed to give away isn't worth even close to the same amount of risk, and 140kph on roads with sharp bends is getting a bit excessive.

[318isCoupe 0]

I think maybe they should abandon when speeds reach 50% over the speed limit. So 150 in a 100 zone, 75 in a 50 zone.. it's all about limiting the danger to other road users.

Police are in all likelyhood, more skilled in highspeed driving than the people they're pursuing.. especially in the 14yo with mums corolla case.

So a skilled driver pushing an unskilled driver to higher and higher speeds is what should be avoided.

[jpp 0]

Bring in the sniper in a loud as fook army chooper or the eagle with one of those engine immobilisers that screw the electrics...

Soon we will see coppers pull up to the car with their windows down and fire a taser through the aircon system

But really, if it is publically announced that the cops full out at XX kph who won't push for that liimit as they know they can get away?

Sort of like announcing where the secret key is hidden in a jail cell. From what I know, the fact that cops have the discretion to pull out when they feel the situation is out of hand is enough for me.

Edited October 30, 2006 by jpp

[TronSpec 0]

MrHamWallet, I get the feeling you should be posting on some other site with posts like that, I personally don't think anyone should attempt to out-run the police and put other motorists in danger, no matter how bullet-proof you 'think' you are.

Carl Mate I wouldn't do it these day's shet I like to think I'm a little bit more mature now, i was just saying........when your young and reckless other peoples saftey is the last thing on ya mind.

So a skilled driver pushing an unskilled driver to higher and higher speeds is what should be avoided.

Agreed! Also your always gonna get the odd cop that' really don't care either mate I bet it's alot of fun chasing someone at high speed when your allowed. sh*t the majority of cops are crooked as f**k and just please themselves what they do. I spent all last year doing pre entry test's and going out on scope (ride around with them for a certain number of hours) as I was dead serious about joining but after seeing what they really get up to I have decided against it.

The public really has no f**kin idea what they get up to

[conrod 1]

I am just old enough to remember the days when the police could chase you, but if you made it home (or anyones elses home for that matter!) then they couldn't touch you on private property! Those were the days when things were a bit more "sporting!"............

[Jazzbass 1]

I'm old enough to remember when an off-duty traffic cop saw me being a hoon on my Bonnie and gave me a ticket 4 days later when he saw me at a fish & chip shop.

[CaM 0]

I wish I was the age i am now, back then.

woulda been awesome.

haven't still got the bonnie do you?

[ThreeOneEight 0]

I wish I was the age i am now, back then.

woulda been awesome.

Finally, an explanation for that hairstyle.

[Jazzbass 1]

LOl - all the bikes are long gone...

[318isCoupe 0]

Agreed! Also your always gonna get the odd cop that' really don't care either mate I bet it's alot of fun chasing someone at high speed when your allowed.

Agreed! There are some real good cops around (i've got one that lives 3 properties down from me.. didn't know it when I left home but he's a friend of my parents.. whenever I get a new car I take it to him and he points out anything that he reckons I'll get pulled up on) but then there's some real pricks too (I got a fine for pulling a u-turn in an empty industrial area.. between two side streets.. apparently I could have caused an accident if there was other traffic, so I recieved $600 "driving in a manner likely to cause damage, injury or annoyance" fine.. I think he was sitting down there waiting for someone to come and do something stupid, and just pulled over the first car he could)