Police chases in New Zealand

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kingdragonfly

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#293242 8-Jan-2022 14:52

I used this information from the Police, to get these statistics.

I'd think if I was an drink/impaired driver, if I stopped, I could be jailed for up to three months or fined up to $4,500, and always disqualified for six months or more.

If I was drink/impaired driver, and been convicted up to twice, if I ran, and didn't hurt anyone, the penalty is exactly the same.

If I was drink driving, and already convicted twice, I would get a lesser sentence (assuming I didn't hurt anyone) if I successfully fled.

Personally I think in all cases, there should always be at least a month's home detention. This wouldn't cause too much financial hardship, and would force the person to reflect on their behavior.

Perhaps instead of frequently giving up police chases, we could try this.

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#2845302 8-Jan-2022 15:10

I'd be very surprised if every chase involved a convicted twice drunk driver. I'd also be surprised if these offenders are using rationality to this extent.

nzmatt

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#2845307 8-Jan-2022 15:41

The media focus on the chases where the fleeing driver gets away, usually by driving dangerously enough the Police are forced to stop. The clear message from the media to drivers is flee, driver dangerously enough and the Police give up. Publicly chases should end in one of two ways - Driver stops or Driver crashes. The ones where fleeing drivers get away should be quietly reported on 'page 5' with the other minor court appearances, not click bait front page. Main stream media are a significant cause of the increase in fleeing drivers.

One of the big problems is drivers create an immediate danger to the public, so the chases are called off. The increased number of fleeing drivers because this is being reported is causing a bigger danger in the longer term.

gzt

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#2845312 8-Jan-2022 16:17

There's a frequent assumption that abandoning a chase for the safety of the pubic means there will be no arrest or charges in relation to that chase. In fact many cases are resolved and charged after following up later with registration details, driver description, and other information gathered in relation to the event.

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#2845362 8-Jan-2022 16:27

If you flee the police, a minimum 12 month ban and six months in jail first. No parole.

Dingbatt

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#2845383 8-Jan-2022 17:04

Does that include the 13-14 year olds that are stealing the cars in the first place? Don’t have a licence, can’t be locked up.

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kingdragonfly

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#2845384 8-Jan-2022 17:06

COVID lockdowns reduced the uptrend of police chases from March 2020 till sometime in 2021.

So while the curve improved momentarily, it show no signs of decreasing.

I'd suggest we'll get to 6,000 end of 2022.

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Jvipers2

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#2845403 8-Jan-2022 18:27

Figures will drop in time as more EVs are forced onto the road, and fuel prices rockets

gzt

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#2845406 8-Jan-2022 18:31

[grappler]

Useful in a limited set of circumstances only. Clear motorway with an offender who is not expecting it or other close contact situation. Also requires a relatively heavy vehicle as a carrier.

There are similar systems replacing roadspikes with a tangle net. It appears to be far more effective stopping a vehicle almost instantly compared to spikes.

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#2845408 8-Jan-2022 18:40

I'd like to see the underlying offences/reasons for chases for those charged. In some cases I expect that's difficult to derive. Ie; driver acting in favor of a passenger with an outstanding warrant. In most cases it should be clear enough.

kingdragonfly

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#2845412 8-Jan-2022 19:29

A 12 year old video

New Zealand Cops Spike Police Car

These young cop's were a little too keen to catch the bad guys and ended up "Spiking" another Police car and an innocent member of the public after missing radio comm.'s information that the offenders car had gone a completely different way

The driver of the offending car was apprehended a short time later by a Police Dog ....Ouch-!!

kingdragonfly

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#2845413 8-Jan-2022 19:35

Others have had more success

Police use spike strips in real chase. Best moments

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JaseNZ

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#2845422 8-Jan-2022 20:12

We don't have the best record and or penalties.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/127058588/the-strictest-countries-for-drinkdriving

Do Tesla's have a chase mode ?? Perhaps the cops can tap in and bring your ev to a halt.

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#2845448 8-Jan-2022 22:01

Dingbatt:
Does that include the 13-14 year olds that are stealing the cars in the first place? Don’t have a licence, can’t be locked up.

That’s what Young Offenders Institutions and the birch are for.

insane

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#2845466 8-Jan-2022 22:08

Jvipers2: Figures will drop in time as more EVs are forced onto the road, and fuel prices rockets

I hope you were trying to be funny. But I have heard that policy helicopters use infrared cameras to look for hot engines which give away cars that have been driving hard to flee police. With an EV I'm guessing the heat signature would be significantly reduced.

Thankfully, for now, the range is fairly limited for hard driving, and honestly who wants to steal a Leaf for a joyride... Tesla and other performance EVs would surely be targeted though for an electrifying ride.

Would it be wrong to strap the fleeing driver to the battery to reduce repeat offending?

ezbee

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#2845475 8-Jan-2022 22:22

Leaf may not be the ideal getaway car.

Given the weight of the battery, a Leaf might have quite a useful momentum for ram raiding.
I gather they are pretty good on acceleration to ramming speed ?

Having done so much Home Detention in the last 2 years I doubt the value of it as a deterrent.

Give me the old days of the work schemes.

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