By Zachary Crockett, Priceonomics
On the evening of January 22, 2002, somewhere in the suburbs of Chico, California, 15-year-old Kristie Priano loaded into the back of the family minivan with her brother and parents. An honor roll student and high school basketball standout, she was to start in a game that night.
Around the same time, across town, another teenage girl had just stolen her mother’s Toyota Rav4 to go for a joy ride. Informed of the theft, the local police dispatched several officers to follow the vehicle through residential streets. Initially, the car in pursuit was driving relatively slow — 30 to 35 MPH, according to a police report . But when the police car switched on its lights and siren and picked up speed, the “suspect” panicked and floored the gas pedal.
A frantic, albeit brief, police chase ensued: with poor visibility, officers tailed the teen at approximately 65 MPH, blazing through four stop signs and multiple four-way intersections.
Zachary Crockett; data via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ’s FARS database
Read more at: https://priceonomics.com/the-case-for-banning-high-speed-police-chases/