Biker runs from cops

[scumdog]

Failing to stop is pretty much a wet bus ticket. I last got charged with that in 2001 when I flew past a cop at 110 in a 50. Long story short, they didn't have enough evidence to charge me with anything else (didn't get a radar lock for speed, didn't see me do anything "dangerous" aside from fly past and disappear) so they went for failing to stop. I pled guilty.

Standing in court, the judge looks at me with a very stern look on her face... "Mr Smith, I'm very troubled to see you had your license back for only two weeks when this offence took place, and this is the second time you've committed this offence." She really f***ed me hard up the arse too... a $350 fine!

Beats a disq or the fines/sentence you'd get for dangerous or speeding.

In court yesterday the guy got an $800 fine - and that was all he had done, failed to stop for the cop cars blue&red lights.

Of course the fact he didn't stop because of his level of intoxication didn't help his case.

(Did runner, bailed out of moving car and disappeared into the bush)

[Patrick]

I believe (from reliable source within an involved local service) that in said case it was fairly obvious the impaired driver would have toddled home a short distance, or to a mates, trying to be inconspicuous, at a speed far less than the 140 k they got up to and persisted with on the wrong side of a high risk highway for quite a considerable distance... due to the prolly fired up knucklehead crowding him on the tail. This is qualified by fact it remains hearsay, but nothing in the media reports would make me doubt the assessment.

The impaired driver had hurt no-one before the chase - you got that I hope.Then it became a likelihood per chase m.o.

Maybe hurt no one up to that point. Who is to say that while he "Toddled" home.... fell asleep, crossed the centre line and killed a family of 5 perhaps?

But do nothing to prevent this? Hell no. I would try to prevent it.....

Chases have been reviewed and refined over and over. Each pursuit is reviewed even when the outcome is a harmless ending. You would be surprised at how chases are called off so easily now. Or concerned....

whats the point of chasing them? They don't force them off the road like in the states, they just follow them on the runners ass which makes them run harder and they dont do a thing anyway exept wait for the runner to decide to stop (not likely after they've already ran), crash or what?

Heard of spikes?

Compare that to the hypothetical case of a crooked cop who say he has measured your speed at 141 km/h and that you'll be walking home. No witnesses, no burden of evidence. You could have been doing 80 km/h and you're still in the shit.

Take a hypothetical reality pill.....

If ya doing 80, why would it be talked up to 141? Why would they look at ya in the first place?

(Clue - the fact you were doing 141 or more in the 1st place actually kinda gives it away a little....)

In a lot of cases the chased driver will carry on trying to escape in their vehicle regardless to the damage they have caused or their vehicle has sustained, - as long as the engine still runs and the wheels still turn they will try to flee.

Don't forget the chases that have ended badly, after the pursuit has been called off....

In court yesterday the guy got an $800 fine - and that was all he had done, failed to stop for the cop cars blue&red lights.

Of course the fact he didn't stop because of his level of intoxication didn't help his case.

(Did runner, bailed out of moving car and disappeared into the bush)

Hope the dog got a feed?

[wbks]

Heard of spikes?

Not anywhere outside of the city I haven't. And considering the country is where a lot of these chase-crashes happen I don't think they're going to get to use the spikes ever.

[Patrick]

Waitara is barely a town, let alone a city... they have em. So does Inglewood and Stratford, and they are samller....

New Plymouth is barely a big town.... one set in every car.

[madboy]

In court yesterday the guy got an $800 fine - and that was all he had done, failed to stop for the cop cars blue&red lights.

Of course the fact he didn't stop because of his level of intoxication didn't help his case.

(Did runner, bailed out of moving car and disappeared into the bush)

Silly boy... if he'd had a fast bike he coulda stopped, parked it carefully, put the disc lock on, called a taxi and been down at the local whorehouse and made his selection before the cops caught up to him...

Oh well, that'll learn him.

[scumdog]

Silly boy... if he'd had a fast bike he coulda stopped, parked it carefully, put the disc lock on, called a taxi and been down at the local whorehouse and made his selection before the cops caught up to him...

Oh well, that'll learn him.

So he could have, but in the circumstances the outcome would have been the same - although being pissed on the motorbike he would have most likely binned and if he hadn't he would have (a) dropped the bike while 'carefully parking' it, (b)been incapable of putting the disc-lock on, (c) been too limp to be any good to the whore. (maybe he was one himself??)

[candor]

In a lot of cases the chased driver will carry on trying to escape in their vehicle - as long as the engine still runs and the wheels still turn they will try to flee.

Exactly my point. But in NZ an ID'ed driver can't hide for long. No state lines to cross. It may be more efficient to catch them later than risk others doing it sooner. When are they turning on the ANPR system that is put to much good use in these situations elsewhere?

Madbikeboy you think chases and the "rape subculture" are both important, but that there is deeper meaning to a culture of sleeze and rape when that same culture is supposed to police and protect.

The same deeper meaning applies to upholding road safety laws, then not practising the same standards preached.

You say, as a male (and therefore not a feminist) you can't really understand how you could make that statement, if it were your wife, your sister, your daughter, you might take it a little more seriously.

Hear my shrill high voice - I'm female, feminist but not radical. I have no sister or daughter. I fully comprehend rape (been there - still here), and road death as my mother was killed by someone on the road. I know which crime is the worst. I also base this personal judgement on the heirarchy from being a registered psych nurse... imo people are worse affected by violent deaths (inclusive of road ones) to their loved ones - in the long term.

Which is not to say that rape is not a serious matter. It is one though that gets wide recognition.... the impact on families of criminal caused death though is much less understood, as the experience is less common. If you go to the Federation of European Road victims website you will see a long range study of victims of road homicide or road gbh.

The impacts tend to be more severe than those seen after rape to more people - with long term shellshock type effects, priorities often turned upside down and as with other forms of homicide long duration sadness or suicidality and much enhanced rates of completed suicide. The issues are highly comparable - both involving loss of control, alienation and big disruptions or rewrites to the expected narrative of a life or lives of those touched. It is even worse for survivors when it is your child that is maimed/lost to violent death.

Several of the chases I think should not have occurred or been continued did kill or seriously F up young people in NZ over the last 5 years. The families I have spoken to are decent people, who are very embittered to authorities now. To have no recognition that their childs traumatic death was not kosha, and the policies and laws not set right, really adds to their burden.

It was an innocent teens death, her car hit by an also deceased pursued MCist on P travelling at 240 due to being chased that got this issue rolling. I believe 60 mins did the story some time ago. Much effort was put, by the system including PCA into concealing the constable on patrols true level of blame. For one the cops speed was lied about.

With chases up 50% in 3 years to 2000 yearly, this is something that will affect more people, and should not be sniffed at because it won't happen "to me" or "due to me".
Would you rather your stolen bike is returned on the day at risk of killing someone if that takes a chase, or rather not have cops risk it if its unsafe or plain dumb to do so, and just be happy to get insurance and maybe a better bike? Often thats what it boils down to. No way am I saying call chases off, just that somebody (overseas) does it better, for road safety. And the difference is readily tracked down - to restrictive policies. I sense many Police cringe at the word restrictive and it seems those here feel they are already restricted enough. It must be word of mouth stuff not written policy (our 2004 one is lax), as I guess that is easier to legally defend against if you break the unspoken code of do's and don'ts.

[meteor]

I wonder if the real issue is the deterrent effect of the wet bus ticket when the runner finally gets to court and the charge isn't negotiated, withdrawn, or discharged. If they were to lose their car/bike/rollerskates or whateva and be banged up inside (both ways) for a couple or 3 weeks mandatory then the 'risk' would be too great to run. No chases equates to no injuries to innocents and no wasted lives. Until the Judiciary (and by that I mean the judges AND their political instructions) start getting serious about deterring crime rather than treating the fail to stop as an administrative charge i.e. to effect a process, then we will continue to see 'runners' who crash, kill or maim.... Oops just fell off my soap box.

[Patrick]

Exactly my point. But in NZ an ID'ed driver can't hide for long. No state lines to cross. It may be more efficient to catch them later than risk others doing it sooner.

When the driver is actually known, it is all over, in that Comms will call it off. Like you correctly said, catch up later.

[Mikkel]

And you STILL lose your licence for 28 days while waiting for the blood result to come back.

I actually thought the results would come through immediately.

Take a hypothetical reality pill.....

If ya doing 80, why would it be talked up to 141? Why would they look at ya in the first place?

The why is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that endowing anyone with that kind of power is asking for trouble. Power corrupts - just the way things are. The problem is simply that any police officer could pull over any motorist and confiscate their license - it wouldn't be difficult to do. Sure, the police officer could, and hopefully would, get into trouble for doing so - but it would still be a real hassle of whoever got served to get out of it.

I am not saying this is happening - nor am I saying it has never happened. The issue is that it could happen at all. That is why I say hypothetically - it is something that could be reality. We'd all wish that all cops were moral and ethical people - but we know for a fact that not all of them are. So we are left to hope that the vast majority of them are moral and ethical people - and I believe this to be the case. I hope that this point is not completely wasted...

[Patrick]

I am not saying this is happening - nor am I saying it has never happened. The issue is that it could happen at all. That is why I say hypothetically - it is something that could be reality. We'd all wish that all cops were moral and ethical people - but we know for a fact that not all of them are. So we are left to hope that the vast majority of them are moral and ethical people - and I believe this to be the case. I hope that this point is not completely wasted...

I blame the aliens... its their fault...

In 23 years, yet to meet an "immoral" or "unethical" and those that are are found out fairly quick usually.... they just don't last.

Compared to other departments from around the world, I honestly believe we are in good hands all in all...

[Mikkel]

I blame the aliens... its their fault...

In 23 years, yet to meet an "immoral" or "unethical" and those that are are found out fairly quick usually.... they just don't last.

Compared to other departments from around the world, I honestly believe we are in good hands all in all...

Ah, a xenophobe then.

There was this case a while ago that actually suggested that some of them made it all the way to the top. But I am not familiar with all of the facts - and I'm not going to speculate.

And certainly I agree - the NZ police force is much better than what you'd get many other places.

But now you need to realise that the issue I am discussing here has nothing to do with the police and everything to do with how the law is put together. All I am saying that the law, as it is, leaves lots of room for non-perfect human police officers (that would be everyone of them I'd like to believe) to violate civil liberties - that we otherwise take for granted - with little or no consequence.

Again, just to make it clear - my beef is not with the police but with the law itself.

[Mom]

A couple of years ago I was driving back from Thames. I was planning to take a smoke stop at the BP stop at the top of the Bombays. Happily cruising along in the inside lane of the motorway about 500 metres from the offramp I noticed this car weaving in and out of traffic behind me going really fast. Thought what a dickhead!

As I am indicating to turn up the offramp this idiot undertook me on the shoulder of the motorway (between me and the armco barrier). There was smoke pouring off his car and it was making a hell of a noise, I got showered with stones, half blinded my the smoke and the biggest fright of my life! My nerves must be quite good as I did not lose control, but fair to say I had the mean adrenaline rush happening.


I followed this dick up and he parked his car and took off running. I park close by and get out of the car shaking like a leaf. Next thing the carpark is filled with cop cars, plain and marked, cops all over the place. They chased him into MacDonalds and he legged it out the back into the fields. We had Eagle, cops on the roof of the buildings, you name it! This wanker was involved in a police chase, they had been chasing him from Rangariri (sp), he had a road cone wedged under the front guard, the car was pissing fluids and steam.

Fact is these cops were chasing this dickhead through relatively heavy motorway traffic, he was obviously panicked and out of control. Eagle probably would have been a safer option. I got the fright of my life, he was sooo close to me, I hate to think about what might have happened.

Talking to a cop, giving my details as you do, he tells me this bloke is runing from driving offenses! Oh really! Well he managed to commit quite a few more during the poilce pursuit. I hate them!

[Ixion]

I blame the aliens... its their fault...

In 23 years, yet to meet an "immoral" or "unethical" and those that are are found out fairly quick usually.... they just don't last.

Compared to other departments from around the world, I honestly believe we are in good hands all in all...

Officer Gingacunt ?

[scumdog]

Officer Gingacunt ?

That mythical creature....sort of like a taniwha??