3 ms·

Except that people around the world generally don't want to go to prison, so why do americans have more high speed chases? (assuming they do in fact have more

by wredcoll 11mo ago

Except that people around the world generally don't want to go to prison, so why do americans have more high speed chases? (assuming they do in fact have more per capita/car...)

c420 11mo ago
I'm going to guess... because we can? Police here are willing to chase for almost anything in most jurisdictions. I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world.
- zimpenfish 11mo ago
  > I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world. UK has stuff like [0] which contains a whole bunch of "is it worth it?" considerations. Also if a chase causes a death, the officer(s) can be prosecuted[1] - I suspect the nonsense of "qualified immunity" means there's no risk to a US officer for initiating a chase that ends in death. [0] https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-pursuits https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-purs... [1] e.g https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155
  - dmurray 11mo ago
    In Ireland, the police (and the public) look on the UK regime with envy. After this case [0] the standing orders are that it's basically never worth it, you risk a prosecution no matter what the circumstances. [0] https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-after-three-burglary-gang-members-died-in-n7-crash-is-sent-for-jury-trial/a556295568.html https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-aft...
zimpenfish 11mo ago
> so why do americans have more high speed chases? Off the top of my head: 1) US cops are more likely to harass, maim, kill you than most other places (whether you've crimed or not); 2) US legal system seems a little hinky when it comes to certain people; 3) "three strikes" (not sure if that's countrywide or state-level? pretty sure it's still around tho'?) can mean life for three trivial crimes; 4) car-centric country - lots of them and everywhere is designed for cars[0]. [0] Imagine a car chase around London[1] or some other wackily streeted city. [1] No, the godawful nonsense Hollywood comes up with does not count.
- Rebelgecko 11mo ago
  California's 3 strikes law only applies to "serious" felonies. The list is pretty reasonable IMO. No one is getting life in prison for littering or insurance fraud It's basically a list of violent crimes, the only one that seems out of pocket is selling PCP, meth, or cocaine to childre, which is bad but could arguably be less bad than the others on the list
  - aerostable_slug 11mo ago
    Raping an unconscious person is not on the list of violent felonies. Neither is domestic violence with traumatic injury, assault with a deadly weapon, or felony battery with serious bodily injury. It takes a lot to earn strikes in California.
  - zimpenfish 11mo ago
    > California's 3 strikes law only applies to "serious" felonies. But not all states are California. > No one is getting life in prison for littering or insurance fraud William James Rummel begs to differ[0] - fraudulent use of a credit card ($80), forged check ($28.36), failure to return payment for non-performed work ($120.75) and voila, life sentence (albeit later reduced to time served on procedural grounds.) [0] also references "Graham v. West Virginia, a 1912 case which involved an individual convicted of three separate counts of horse thievery total[l]ing $235" which ended up in a life sentence. In summary, some states may have sensible 3 strike laws, some may not. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummel_v._Estelle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummel_v._Estelle
    - SauntSolaire 11mo ago
      I would love to see more comprehensive stats to answer this question, rather than relying on cases studies you have to go back over one hundred years to find.
      - zimpenfish 11mo ago
        > over one hundred years Look, I know I'm old and it feels like it but 1980 is absolutely not one hundred years ago. > I would love to see more comprehensive stats to answer this question Have some more recent California examples (between 1994 when they created the law and 2012 when it was loosened): "[...] given life sentences for offenses including stealing one dollar in loose change from a parked car, possessing less than a gram of narcotics, and attempting to break into a soup kitchen."[0] [0] https://law.stanford.edu/three-strikes-project/three-strikes-basics/ https://law.stanford.edu/three-strikes-project/three-strikes...
georgeecollins 11mo ago
Or.. https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k?si=7bXkaIri1_o95Ofs https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k?si=7bXkaIri1_o95Ofs
seemaze 11mo ago
Lots of high capacity vehicular infra in LA.. I imagine most places just have ‘chases’.
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]

Except that people around the world generally don't want to go to prison, so why do americans have more high speed chases? (assuming they do in fact have more per capita/car...)

c420 11mo ago

I'm going to guess... because we can? Police here are willing to chase for almost anything in most jurisdictions. I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world.

zimpenfish 11mo ago
> I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world. UK has stuff like [0] which contains a whole bunch of "is it worth it?" considerations. Also if a chase causes a death, the officer(s) can be prosecuted[1] - I suspect the nonsense of "qualified immunity" means there's no risk to a US officer for initiating a chase that ends in death. [0] https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-pursuits https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-purs... [1] e.g https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155
- dmurray 11mo ago
  In Ireland, the police (and the public) look on the UK regime with envy. After this case [0] the standing orders are that it's basically never worth it, you risk a prosecution no matter what the circumstances. [0] https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-after-three-burglary-gang-members-died-in-n7-crash-is-sent-for-jury-trial/a556295568.html https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-aft...

zimpenfish 11mo ago

> so why do americans have more high speed chases? Off the top of my head: 1) US cops are more likely to harass, maim, kill you than most other places (whether you've crimed or not); 2) US legal system seems a little hinky when it comes to certain people; 3) "three strikes" (not sure if that's countrywide or state-level? pretty sure it's still around tho'?) can mean life for three trivial crimes; 4) car-centric country - lots of them and everywhere is designed for cars[0]. [0] Imagine a car chase around London[1] or some other wackily streeted city. [1] No, the godawful nonsense Hollywood comes up with does not count.

Rebelgecko 11mo ago
California's 3 strikes law only applies to "serious" felonies. The list is pretty reasonable IMO. No one is getting life in prison for littering or insurance fraud It's basically a list of violent crimes, the only one that seems out of pocket is selling PCP, meth, or cocaine to childre, which is bad but could arguably be less bad than the others on the list
- aerostable_slug 11mo ago
  Raping an unconscious person is not on the list of violent felonies. Neither is domestic violence with traumatic injury, assault with a deadly weapon, or felony battery with serious bodily injury. It takes a lot to earn strikes in California.
- zimpenfish 11mo ago
  > California's 3 strikes law only applies to "serious" felonies. But not all states are California. > No one is getting life in prison for littering or insurance fraud William James Rummel begs to differ[0] - fraudulent use of a credit card ($80), forged check ($28.36), failure to return payment for non-performed work ($120.75) and voila, life sentence (albeit later reduced to time served on procedural grounds.) [0] also references "Graham v. West Virginia, a 1912 case which involved an individual convicted of three separate counts of horse thievery total[l]ing $235" which ended up in a life sentence. In summary, some states may have sensible 3 strike laws, some may not. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummel_v._Estelle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummel_v._Estelle
  - SauntSolaire 11mo ago
    I would love to see more comprehensive stats to answer this question, rather than relying on cases studies you have to go back over one hundred years to find.
    - zimpenfish 11mo ago
      > over one hundred years Look, I know I'm old and it feels like it but 1980 is absolutely not one hundred years ago. > I would love to see more comprehensive stats to answer this question Have some more recent California examples (between 1994 when they created the law and 2012 when it was loosened): "[...] given life sentences for offenses including stealing one dollar in loose change from a parked car, possessing less than a gram of narcotics, and attempting to break into a soup kitchen."[0] [0] https://law.stanford.edu/three-strikes-project/three-strikes-basics/ https://law.stanford.edu/three-strikes-project/three-strikes...

georgeecollins 11mo ago

Or.. https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k?si=7bXkaIri1_o95Ofs https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k?si=7bXkaIri1_o95Ofs

seemaze 11mo ago

Lots of high capacity vehicular infra in LA.. I imagine most places just have ‘chases’.

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]