Police chase hypothetical

[gusmahler]

I witnessed my first police chase yesterday. In LA, of course. But it brings up a "what would you do" question.

It's 4 lanes going your direction + 2 turning lanes. I'm approaching a stop light in lane 4 (the far right lane) behind two other cars. Each of the other lanes has 1 car in it stopped at the light.

I hear a police siren behind me. I look in the mirror and I see a cop speeding along. I also see a car about 1/8th a mile in front of him, seemingly being chased by the cop. The perp slams on his brakes and is forced to stop behind the line of cars at the stop light. He starts honking his horn. The cop car approaches the perp, sirens and lights still blazing. Cop stops.

What would you do if you were the cars at the stop light?

In this situation, all the cars at the stop light drove into the intersection and got out of the way. Perp continued driving, followed by the cop.

Things to consider:

1) The "perp" could have been an undercover cop. It had no lights or sirens, but you never know.

2) Do you really want to get involved in a potential gun battle between a perp and a cop? If the perp car is so intent on running away from the cops, you can guess that he might not leave his car willingly. And since it's only one cop car, perp might have thought he had a chance in a gun fight.

3) Do you want to do your civic duty and stay where you are (even if the light turns green) to prevent the perp from getting away?

[guids]

I get out of the way and let the cops do their jobs. Trying to be a hero in something like this just makes things more dangerous for the cops/everyone involved. And no police officer will ever tell you that they want a civilian involved, it just screws up their plan of attack.

[tuq]

[ QUOTE ]
1) The "perp" could have been an undercover cop. It had no lights or sirens, but you never know.

[/ QUOTE ]
What in the world gives you the idea that this is even remotely possible?

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
I get out of the way and let the cops do their jobs. Trying to be a hero in something like this just makes things more dangerous for the cops/everyone involved. And no police officer will ever tell you that they want a civilian involved, it just screws up their plan of attack.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thing is, in this situation, "getting involved" means sitting in your car and doing nothing. I know you shouldn't ram the perp's car or take your shotgun out. But if you just stayed in your car and did absolutely nothing, it's possible the cop could have arrested the perp right there, instead of endangering many other lives by having a police chase right by LAX.

[gusmahler]

BTW, I also witnessed another incredibly dangerous situation in LA yesterday.

I was on the ramp getting on the highway. Directly in front of me were two cars, let's call them car A (in front) and car B.

Car B was tailgating A really close. Usually in this situation, when they get to the highway, B immediately passes A and the situation is over. Here, they got to the highway and B immediately moves over two lanes to pass A. Car A stays in front of B, cutting him off. B goes to pass on the right. A cuts him off again. This happens for over half a mile, until they got behind a tractor trailer and A went left of the trailer and B went right of him.

I thought it was insane and they could have gotten into a huge accident.

[guids]

There are a bunch of reasons that that you pull over to the right hand side of the road when you hear approaching sirens, this is one fo them. If everyone acts uniformly, then the cops can plan ahead. The less surprises there are for the police throughout the day the better.

[4_2_it]

Just get over to the right and let Al continue driving OJ home.

[XXXNoahXXX]

What about when you don't move and he just starts ramming the [censored] out of your car? Then you have an f-ed up car and have to deal with insurance claims, being without a car for a while, etc. all for something that might do more harm than good?

How would you feel if you're at the front of the line, don't move and then the perp starts spraying his Uzi at the cars between you and him?

What if he gets out and takes someone hostage instead of just driving on?


The police are on it. Just mind your own business and get out the way.

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
There are a bunch of reasons that that you pull over to the right hand side of the road when you hear approaching sirens, this is one fo them. If everyone acts uniformly, then the cops can plan ahead. The less surprises there are for the police throughout the day the better.

[/ QUOTE ]

In this situation, there's no "pulling over to the right." All of the civilians involved were stopped at a stop light.

As for me, I had my daughter in my car with me, and, if the perp were behind me, I definitely would have gotten out of the way. I was just wondering if anyone else would have done differently. Guess not.

[mosdef]

[ QUOTE ]
BTW, I also witnessed another incredibly dangerous situation in LA yesterday.

I was on the ramp getting on the highway. Directly in front of me were two cars, let's call them car A (in front) and car B.

Car B was tailgating A really close. Usually in this situation, when they get to the highway, B immediately passes A and the situation is over. Here, they got to the highway and B immediately moves over two lanes to pass A. Car A stays in front of B, cutting him off. B goes to pass on the right. A cuts him off again. This happens for over half a mile, until they got behind a tractor trailer and A went left of the trailer and B went right of him.

I thought it was insane and they could have gotten into a huge accident.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wait a minute - are you honestly trying to tell me you saw somebody driving like an idiot and endangering others? I find that hard to believe!

/sarcasm

This should not surprise you. If it does, you are not driving as defensively as you should. There are many, many, many terrible drivers endangering you and others basically all the time.