Hell Driven

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG!                                    May 30, 2014

By published author

Bryce A Baker

Hell Driven

One of the most publicly dangerous violations of safety is a lunatic in a stolen car.

Most aren’t aware of the gravity of how horrible these acts of theft can escalate into. Aside from the car thief that steals for profit, there is the ‘joy rider’. No matter which, they are a loaded gun waiting to be fired at an unsuspecting population.

When a thief steals a vehicle, the chance of a police pursuit is a possibility, which brings up a controversial subject. Some feel that law enforcement should not pursue in consideration of public safety. In other words, give the thieves a clear path to freedom to do whatever they want. Through the years, pursuit training for police officers has greatly changed with substantial protocols set in place for the safety of the public. Pursuits are necessary for a number of reasons due to the long list of crimes that take place involving motor vehicles.

If a driver fails to pull over when instructed, and a chase is initiated, I feel the driver of the vehicle should be charged with a threat level charge according to the severity of the event. This means that if it is a driver trying to shake the cop in a short trip away from sanity, then it would be a lesser ‘Felony’ charge. But if the driver is trying to elude by any means and an extreme threat, they should be charged with attempted murder, because they are premeditating the result.

The variations of why and how are many, so the punishment should match the crime. Anyone that decides to run has no thought for anyone’s life other than their own.

In 1993 I was in a felony pursuit of a middle aged woman that had a psychotic episode. I picked up the pursuit after she ran a city bus off the road, and me as an oncoming. The pursuit was nearly forty minutes long and soon escalated to a highway pursuit with more than ten cruisers. She severely damaged six cruisers and wrote off a unit that was placed across her path to stop her carnage. She almost hit a cyclist as well. The lady was placed in a hospital for sixty days for psychiatric evaluation and released with the diagnosis that she had a brief breakdown. No charges could be given because of the diagnosis. She was given her driver’s license back.

So it is my understanding, that for public safety, the bad guys need to be pursued in proper safety and levy a severe charge as a deterrent. Too many families have lost loved ones because a creature behind the wheel of an instrument of transportation and turned into a lethal weapon.

There needs to be a charge of attempted murder for anyone that steals a vehicle, pursuit or not! It isn’t a joke or a joy ride; it is a crime!

Please... CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG!

 

Bryce A Baker

www.bryceabaker.com