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

[malificent7]

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?

So it’s ok for you to be angry at a neighbour who modifies these bikes, but not at the people who pay him to do it, or the riders who evade the police trying to stop them? Do you recall a few years ago a woman was killed by a cyclist in London who’s bike had been modified making it dangerous. Should he be let off because he was young and it was only a bike / his first conviction / his mum said he was a lovely boy?

I was driving yesterday, and someone came whizzing past in the bike lane on an E-scooter … it was going much faster than 15mph. I was suprised that the person on it was allowed to drive on a public road, at that speed, with no safety equipment. They also went up on the pavement at a roundabout, and through a red light.

Parents need to take some responsibility, to ensure the safety of thier children, plus, the police driving behind someone does not equate to a police chase.

on the subject of being a “lovely lad” .. a guy around here was shot dead, he was a career criminal and cocaine dealer, with convictions for violent crime … the number of tributes that he was a “great dad” (great dads don’t deal cocaine)

If it’s a personal E scooter they aren’t allowed to ride it on the road/ pavements anywhere.

I've seen kids behaving so dangerously on e-scooters. They will kill someone eventually if it carries on unchecked.

Police need to chase criminals. Maybe the kid wouldn't have died if he hadn't ridden into a parked ambulance. But at the same time, he wouldn't have ridden into the back of a parked ambulance if he had stopped when the police started chasing him. And you know what they say, If you haven't done anything wrong, you don't run from police.

*anywhere public
private grounds only

I don’t want to be responsible for one of these twats deaths or injuries either. It would haunt me forever even if it wasn’t my fault.

But criminals hardly give a toss about the health & safety of others, do they?

You wouldn't have started this thread if they crashed into your friend / family and killed them...

With the scooters, When this first appeared to be a problem my local police were really hot on taking them off people. Now they’ve given up, which then encourages more because “everyone else is doing it”.

whilst I absolutely agree environmentally (parking the mining lithium issue) these are great for getting people out of cars. I’m not sure the trial has gone that well. There’s been multiple deaths on them.

@Howpo

So the police should just let people steal bikes? They won't be able to retrieve the stolen bike or deal with the thief if they don't chase them so they shiuld just give up? The victim doesn't get their property back? Thieves get away scott free and carry on stealing, doing worse and worse things as they get cockier and more confident?

If he hadn't done anything wrong, why run from police?

Kids do dickhead things. I know. They ride bikes, e bikes and normal pushbike way to fast near where I live. If they hit someone, they would seriously injure or kill them. Should we let them carry on unchecked despite the serious risk they pose to pedestrians? And if they do hit someone just go 'Oh well, kids do dickheads things'.?

there still seems to be confusion about e-bikes and e-motorbikes. The e-bike can go up to 15mph legally with electric pedal assist and can be modified illegally to go a bit higher.

The e-motorbikes the lads were riding are motorbikes that happen to be electricity powered. To ride them on the road you would need all the normal motor bike training and safety gear. I assume they have neither and there are no restrictions on how they are sold.

Kids are now on these e scooters, becoming road users moving at some speed, with no knowledge of highway code, or seemingly any sense whatsoever.

It is quite terrifying for all on the road.

The police are not to blame.

What absolute rubbish, 'police shouldn't chase people on bicycles'
So no matter what?
These weren't your easy sounding 'bicycles' as pp have stated.
And oh dear, people who hate the police and have no respect for them (or any other law abiding citizens) hate the police, who'd have thunk it?
I find that those who blame the police with the rhetoric of 'they were good lads, never did a thing wrong/police are heavy handed/wrong/shouldn't have done their actual job..' and so on ad nauseum are either also involved/support in the criminal behaviour or very detached from the huge problems brought by this behaviour as never experienced it.

I agree with those who say the media have a responsibility to properly report the types of machinery involved.

There are two types of electric vehicle that teenagers can legally ride. One is an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle (EAPC) the other is a scooter from one of the approved trial rental schemes. The first, as already pointed out, has a limited power output that only works while pedalling. The assistance cuts out at around 15mph. The bikes though if downhill and/or energetically pedalled can easily hit 30 - as can any pedal bike. The scooters require a provisional licence so should only be used by those of 16+, though based on what I see locally there's a lot of fibbing about DoB etc.

As I understand it normal police protocols avoid chases wherever possible; too much risk to the driver/rider, innocent people on or by the road and the officers themselves. As any afficionado of Channel 5's fly on the windscreen series can tell you a pursuit has to be authorised by a senior officer. The preferred method is to get the offender stopped by using officers at normal speeds assisted by others positioned to catch.

It seems that in both recent fatals the police were following safely and lost the 'target' when they went through bollards that were not passable by cars/vans etc, They subsequently met their end essentially becuase they'd not got the skills to ride properly and hit something large and solid.

One of the boys in Cardiff had been given the £4800 illegal bike by his parents. They were riding without helmets. The police were nowhere near them when they died. But the parents are still blaming the police.

Ask the parents. Why they let their children behave in a way that causes them to be chased by the police.

Shouldn’t we be asking what a 15 year old was doing out on an e-bike at 2.00am?

And why wasn't he in school?

Bit of a side point but if he was 15 he could have been in Y11 and only required to be in school for GCSE exams. But if he was in Y10 then yes, he should probably have been in school. That aside though, these teenagers are riding powerful pseudo motorbikes they can't control, with no safety gear in an inappropriate environment. Yes, the police should challenge them.

It was 2pm not 2am.

Sadly these teens are dying because they are choosing to drive dangerously, and often illegally, on the roads.

I have never once been chased by a police car despite driving for many years. I suspect it's because I don't drive illegally, far too fast, drive dangerously, etc. If a police car did indicate for me to stop I would do so straight away. So it's unlikely I'd ever be involved in such a chase.

Unfortunately these teens have made a different choice and out themselves, and other road (and pavement/off road) users at great risk. As well as potentially dying themselves they are making a choose which could mean that other people could also die, due to their decision.

Whilst is]t is always tragic i]when someone dies young, I don't think we can blame the police for trying to stop someone driving dangerously.

Electric bikes need a similar license as mopeds IMO, children shouldn’t be on them and I don’t understand why any parent would allow their children to have one. Surely the amount of deaths that’s been caused by them now is indicative that they’re not safe for adults let alone children?

What is the common denominator in all of these cases so far? If you figure that out you will get your answer. You can also use the same equation to work out the not very complicated current issue of certain breeds /cross breeds of dogs killing and maiming people.

I was “chased” by the police as I left a retail park the other evening. They flashed me. I pulled aside. They said with a smile, “hey, your lights aren’t on”. I said, with embarrassment, “oh god thank you, I’m sorry!” They said, “enjoy your McDonald’s!” and waved at my gawping child!
If you’re not deliberately breaking the law, these things just down ever end in death do they?
Middle aged woman in fatal car crash after police chase - residents release balloons and say, “she only forgot to turn her lights on.”

I believe in this case they boy was no longer being followed, having cut through bollards.

Like others on this thread, I wish the press would stop with the misleading “e-bikes” headlines.

Looks like OP has fucked off but if you come back @malificent7 you tell me - do you think this boy had never had trouble with the police before?

You can only ride electric scooter in private property or if you you have A licence (moped licence at 16) and insured

It really is a parenting fail when these things happen. And no parent is going to come out with the objective truth about their child when they've just died. Stupidity and irresponsibility are to blame, both on the part of the child and the parent. This wasn't an angelic family involved.

Needing a licence wouldn’t stop trash parents buying them for trash children.
We would still need the police to follow them (yes, even chase them!).