10 ms·

I have only been to Germany once, but my assessment was that we have a very different population here.

by ripberge 10mo ago

BadBadJellyBean 10mo ago
Possible but it seems like the chases are not even a US problem but more a "certain places" problem. I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is.
- dylan604 10mo ago
  > I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is. Seriously? It's from people not wanting to be arrested and go to jail. If they get away, perfect. If they don't, well, they were going to jail anyways. Now they have a cool story to tell while in jail. These are not people getting pulled over because they rolled a stop sign. These are people doing dirt, know it, and are willing to try something to avoid getting caught. It's really not complicated
  - samdoesnothing 10mo ago
    I think they're asking why there's such a large population of people willing to commit crimes and then get into high speed chases.
    - dylan604 10mo ago
      The cause of the behavior (as phrased when asked) is not wanting to go to jail. Asking why people are in situations where they are committing crimes that could land them in jail is a totally different question. Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction.
      - wredcoll 10mo ago
        Except that people around the world generally don't want to go to prison, so why do americans have more high speed chases? (assuming they do in fact have more per capita/car...)
        seemaze 10mo ago
        Lots of high capacity vehicular infra in LA.. I imagine most places just have ‘chases’.
        c420 10mo ago
        I'm going to guess... because we can? Police here are willing to chase for almost anything in most jurisdictions. I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world.
        zimpenfish 10mo ago
        > I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world. UK has stuff like [0] which contains a whole bunch of "is it worth it?" considerations. Also if a chase causes a death, the officer(s) can be prosecuted[1] - I suspect the nonsense of "qualified immunity" means there's no risk to a US officer for initiating a chase that ends in death. [0] https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-pursuits https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-purs... [1] e.g https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155
        dmurray 10mo ago
        In Ireland, the police (and the public) look on the UK regime with envy. After this case [0] the standing orders are that it's basically never worth it, you risk a prosecution no matter what the circumstances. [0] https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-after-three-burglary-gang-members-died-in-n7-crash-is-sent-for-jury-trial/a556295568.html https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-aft...
        zimpenfish 10mo ago
        > so why do americans have more high speed chases? Off the top of my head: 1) US cops are more likely to harass, maim, kill you than most other places (whether you've crimed or not); 2) US legal system seems a little hinky when it comes to certain people; 3) "three strikes" (not sure if that's countrywide or state-level? pretty sure it's still around tho'?) can mean life for three trivial crimes; 4) car-centric country - lots of them and everywhere is designed for cars[0]. [0] Imagine a car chase around London[1] or some other wackily streeted city. [1] No, the godawful nonsense Hollywood comes up with does not count.
      - bigfatkitten 10mo ago
        > Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction. The latter is often a result of the former. People self-medicating to escape misery.
        Aurornis 10mo ago
        Can happen, but being miserable is a not a prerequisite to wanting to get high. I think it fits a narrative to explain addictions away as something that happens to someone as a victim of their circumstances, but personal choices are a real input.
      - closeparen 10mo ago
        Stealing cars (often at gunpoint) and driving them recklessly is an entertainment activity for young men with poor impulse control and little regard for human life. This kind of person makes decisions of comparable quality elsewhere in life that are probably incompatible with being middle class.
      - lukan 10mo ago
        "Asking why people are in situations where they are committing crimes that could land them in jail is a totally different question. Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction." Can't we just blame GTA?
      - samdoesnothing 10mo ago
        Are you suggesting criminals in other cities and countries do want to go to jail? Like, the reason there aren't high speed chases in Amsterdam is because Amsterdesian criminals actually enjoy life in the clink?
    - Aurornis 10mo ago
      The population in big US cities is very heterogeneous. There isn’t one single culture. In a city with large population, it only takes a few people willing to commit crimes to make the news.
  - zimpenfish 10mo ago
    > These are not people getting pulled over because they rolled a stop sign. Although if you watched "Last Week Tonight" recently (S12 E28, 2025-11-02), Mr Oliver's long segment is about police chases and IIRC he covered more than a couple of cases where people were, in fact, being pulled over / chased for trivial matters which then lead to crashes, deaths, etc.
    - closeparen 10mo ago
      These are trivial matters in that the penalties are minor, not that they are optional.
      - dns_snek 10mo ago
        Of course they're not optional, but you shouldn't be starting a high speed pursuit over a seat belt violation, or for someone going 5 over the speed limit. Principle of proportionality should apply, you shouldn't be risking the lives of the public over anything but the most serious offences where them getting away poses a greater threat to the public than potentially killing a bystander.
        yreg 10mo ago
        It goes the other way as well. It is dumb to run away from police when they stop you for minor infraction and face a very high chance of getting caught and getting into a major problem. At least I would hope that the penalties for running away are very serious. The police officers don't know why you are running away and can reasonably expect that there is something wrong other than an unbuckled seat belt -> a kidnapped person, tons of drugs in the trunk, a wanted murderer driving, etc. Well at least in my country where chases are rare. I understand in US it is difficult since people are more eager to run away.
        idle_zealot 10mo ago
        > It goes the other way as well. It is dumb to run away from police when they stop you for minor infraction and face a very high chance of getting caught and getting into a major problem Right, people are dumb. You can't just throw your hands in the air and declare a problem unsolvable because people are dumb and keep acting against their best interest; you acknowledge that fact and change tact accordingly. If it turns out that trying to pull people over for minor infractions causes 1% of those incidents to turn into violent chases then you should stop pulling people over for minor infractions and figure out a safer way to ticket them. At the very least you shouldn't chase after them in your car and add another dangerous vehicle to the road. It reflects a mindset of "get and punish the bad guys" being prioritized over "improve safety of your community," which pretty much sums up the culture problem with American police and criminal justice in general.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
stickfigure 10mo ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=florida+man https://www.google.com/search?q=florida+man

I have only been to Germany once, but my assessment was that we have a very different population here.

Possible but it seems like the chases are not even a US problem but more a "certain places" problem. I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is.

dylan604 10mo ago
> I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is. Seriously? It's from people not wanting to be arrested and go to jail. If they get away, perfect. If they don't, well, they were going to jail anyways. Now they have a cool story to tell while in jail. These are not people getting pulled over because they rolled a stop sign. These are people doing dirt, know it, and are willing to try something to avoid getting caught. It's really not complicated
- samdoesnothing 10mo ago
  I think they're asking why there's such a large population of people willing to commit crimes and then get into high speed chases.
  - dylan604 10mo ago
    The cause of the behavior (as phrased when asked) is not wanting to go to jail. Asking why people are in situations where they are committing crimes that could land them in jail is a totally different question. Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction.
    - wredcoll 10mo ago
      Except that people around the world generally don't want to go to prison, so why do americans have more high speed chases? (assuming they do in fact have more per capita/car...)
      - seemaze 10mo ago
        Lots of high capacity vehicular infra in LA.. I imagine most places just have ‘chases’.
      - c420 10mo ago
        I'm going to guess... because we can? Police here are willing to chase for almost anything in most jurisdictions. I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world.
        zimpenfish 10mo ago
        > I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world. UK has stuff like [0] which contains a whole bunch of "is it worth it?" considerations. Also if a chase causes a death, the officer(s) can be prosecuted[1] - I suspect the nonsense of "qualified immunity" means there's no risk to a US officer for initiating a chase that ends in death. [0] https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-pursuits https://www.college.police.uk/app/roads-policing/police-purs... [1] e.g https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155
        dmurray 10mo ago
        In Ireland, the police (and the public) look on the UK regime with envy. After this case [0] the standing orders are that it's basically never worth it, you risk a prosecution no matter what the circumstances. [0] https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-after-three-burglary-gang-members-died-in-n7-crash-is-sent-for-jury-trial/a556295568.html https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-charged-aft...
      - zimpenfish 10mo ago
        > so why do americans have more high speed chases? Off the top of my head: 1) US cops are more likely to harass, maim, kill you than most other places (whether you've crimed or not); 2) US legal system seems a little hinky when it comes to certain people; 3) "three strikes" (not sure if that's countrywide or state-level? pretty sure it's still around tho'?) can mean life for three trivial crimes; 4) car-centric country - lots of them and everywhere is designed for cars[0]. [0] Imagine a car chase around London[1] or some other wackily streeted city. [1] No, the godawful nonsense Hollywood comes up with does not count.
    - bigfatkitten 10mo ago
      > Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction. The latter is often a result of the former. People self-medicating to escape misery.
      - Aurornis 10mo ago
        Can happen, but being miserable is a not a prerequisite to wanting to get high. I think it fits a narrative to explain addictions away as something that happens to someone as a victim of their circumstances, but personal choices are a real input.
    - closeparen 10mo ago
      Stealing cars (often at gunpoint) and driving them recklessly is an entertainment activity for young men with poor impulse control and little regard for human life. This kind of person makes decisions of comparable quality elsewhere in life that are probably incompatible with being middle class.
    - lukan 10mo ago
      "Asking why people are in situations where they are committing crimes that could land them in jail is a totally different question. Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction." Can't we just blame GTA?
    - samdoesnothing 10mo ago
      Are you suggesting criminals in other cities and countries do want to go to jail? Like, the reason there aren't high speed chases in Amsterdam is because Amsterdesian criminals actually enjoy life in the clink?
  - Aurornis 10mo ago
    The population in big US cities is very heterogeneous. There isn’t one single culture. In a city with large population, it only takes a few people willing to commit crimes to make the news.
- zimpenfish 10mo ago
  > These are not people getting pulled over because they rolled a stop sign. Although if you watched "Last Week Tonight" recently (S12 E28, 2025-11-02), Mr Oliver's long segment is about police chases and IIRC he covered more than a couple of cases where people were, in fact, being pulled over / chased for trivial matters which then lead to crashes, deaths, etc.
  - closeparen 10mo ago
    These are trivial matters in that the penalties are minor, not that they are optional.
    - dns_snek 10mo ago
      Of course they're not optional, but you shouldn't be starting a high speed pursuit over a seat belt violation, or for someone going 5 over the speed limit. Principle of proportionality should apply, you shouldn't be risking the lives of the public over anything but the most serious offences where them getting away poses a greater threat to the public than potentially killing a bystander.
      - yreg 10mo ago
        It goes the other way as well. It is dumb to run away from police when they stop you for minor infraction and face a very high chance of getting caught and getting into a major problem. At least I would hope that the penalties for running away are very serious. The police officers don't know why you are running away and can reasonably expect that there is something wrong other than an unbuckled seat belt -> a kidnapped person, tons of drugs in the trunk, a wanted murderer driving, etc. Well at least in my country where chases are rare. I understand in US it is difficult since people are more eager to run away.
        idle_zealot 10mo ago
        > It goes the other way as well. It is dumb to run away from police when they stop you for minor infraction and face a very high chance of getting caught and getting into a major problem Right, people are dumb. You can't just throw your hands in the air and declare a problem unsolvable because people are dumb and keep acting against their best interest; you acknowledge that fact and change tact accordingly. If it turns out that trying to pull people over for minor infractions causes 1% of those incidents to turn into violent chases then you should stop pulling people over for minor infractions and figure out a safer way to ticket them. At the very least you shouldn't chase after them in your car and add another dangerous vehicle to the road. It reflects a mindset of "get and punish the bad guys" being prioritized over "improve safety of your community," which pretty much sums up the culture problem with American police and criminal justice in general.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

stickfigure 10mo ago

https://www.google.com/search?q=florida+man https://www.google.com/search?q=florida+man