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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wonder why all these teenagers are being killed in police car chases?

243 replies

malificent7 · 10/06/2023 07:24

Are they only being chased if they are driving dangerously? First there was Cardiff now the kid on the bike. I know kids do silly things with cars but aibu to think the police don't come off well with this?

OP posts:
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6
PineappleLatte · 10/06/2023 07:25

So the police shouldn’t chase criminals?

5childrenand · 10/06/2023 07:26

The police are doing nothing wrong following people who are breaking the law.

The blame rests fully with the people supplying teenagers with these electric bikes.

DustyLee123 · 10/06/2023 07:26

Very often criminals use these to get away quick and dart down alleys to avoid police, and often it’s drug sellers.

Kanaloa · 10/06/2023 07:26

What do you mean, are they only being chased if they’re driving dangerously? If the police try to pull you over and you drive off isn’t that dangerous by default? And the idea of a chase implies dangerous driving from the first - the police aren’t driving 28 mph behind someone going 29 in a chase.

Sirzy · 10/06/2023 07:27

The issue at the moment seems to be why teenagers are being given electric scooters to drive around dangerously

Flopsythebunny · 10/06/2023 07:28

The police are doing their job stopping criminals.

londonrach · 10/06/2023 07:28

Three children who shouldn't have been on these bikes. The parents rather than the police come out bad on this.

LolaSmiles · 10/06/2023 07:28

The issue at the moment seems to be why teenagers are being given electric scooters to drive around dangerously
Agree with this.

manontroppo · 10/06/2023 07:29

The kid who died on a E bike died because he rode straight into the side of an ambulance - the police had stopped chasing because they couldn’t get a police car past bollards.

like a PP said, the issue is that kids now have access to illegal E scooters and E bikes. Standard e-bikes are limited by law to 25kph.

CosmosQueen · 10/06/2023 07:29

They’re not ‘being killed in car chases’ Ffs.
The riders are breaking the law, often not wearing crash helmets and usually behaving totally irresponsibly.
🤬

honeyandfizz · 10/06/2023 07:29

YABU yes. I am sure they don't go chasing kids on bikes just for the fun of it just hoping to knock them over. These bikes are dangerous and should not be handed out to kids especially if they are not going to be wearing protective headgear / clothing. There needs to be laws around their use, along with e-scooters before many more lives are lost.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 10/06/2023 07:29

I don't know the circumstances of the people involved, and I'm sorry for anyone who's been injured or worse.

I do know that lots of the electric bikes I see locally have batteries of a size/power that isn't legal, and the riders don't ride them safely. A lad was riding behind me yesterday is heavy traffic and moving through really recklessly. You should need motorcycle CBT for them at least IMO.

PuttingDownRoots · 10/06/2023 07:30

I thought the bikes themselves were illegal? They are sort of a mini motorbike, not an ebike. They've been in the local news here for months as they are damaging woodland and farmland. The police are tracking them with drones.

PaniniHead · 10/06/2023 07:30

All reports on the Salford crash say the police had stopped following him before the collision with the ambulance. I don’t think the police did anything wrong in that instance.

WaitingfortheTardis · 10/06/2023 07:30

I think you have to wonder what the teens have been doing to get to that point. I suspect most police chases don't end up this way, but the worst are always the ones we hear about.

MissPoldark · 10/06/2023 07:30

Why were the kids trying to evade the police?
why not just stop?

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 10/06/2023 07:31

It's not the police's' fault people are breaking the law Hmm

My parents car got stolen a few years and ended up in a police chase - the teenagers that took it smashed it into a wall in the end and tried to run off.

TheRussiansAreComing · 10/06/2023 07:31

You only get chased if you’re trying to evade them. So just pull over.
Maybe if the kids wore helmets too.
In this particular instance, that E-bike is more like a motorbike, not a bicycle. I’m pretty sure any copper seeing anyone (let alone a child) riding something that looks like a motorcycle without a helmet is gonna get pulled over.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 10/06/2023 07:32

MissPoldark · 10/06/2023 07:30

Why were the kids trying to evade the police?
why not just stop?

Because they were breaking the law by riding illegal bikes.

Blackbyrd · 10/06/2023 07:32

OP, they are not being "killed". They are proving the point that they should not be illegally riding these things around as they are incapable of doing so safely.

megletthesecond · 10/06/2023 07:34

Round here it's because the kids are riding dangerously. They zoom up the main road on scooters, ear buds in and usually quicker than someone cycling in a helmet.

BCBird · 10/06/2023 07:35

I think saying being killed is widely inaccurate. They are dying. It is not the same

Sigmama · 10/06/2023 07:35

I think the fact it was an ebike is not really the point, it could have been a pedal bike or a moped

ToBeOrNotToBee · 10/06/2023 07:37

The police catch criminals. That's what they do.
The police don't magically know the age and identity of everyone the persue.

The real question should be why are these teenagers being given illegal vehicles?

Siriusmuggle · 10/06/2023 07:38

Tragic though it is I wouldn’t think the police would chase people just going about their legitimate business. I did wonder why a 15 year old wasn’t in school at 2pm on a school day too although that wouldn’t initiate a pursuit.