2 August 2012

Chasing the Mazdas of Tuggeranong

| johnboy
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ACT Policing has arrested a 16-year-old teenager after a two vehicle pursuit in Canberra’s south early this morning (Thursday, August 2).

Around 2.45am, police sighted two reported stolen vehicles, a white Mazda Bravo utility and a white Mazda 121, travelling southbound on the Tuggeranong Parkway.

Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but both vehicles failed to stop and a pursuit commenced.

Police pursued the two vehicles along the Tuggeranong Parkway and onto Drakeford Drive, where the vehicles separated. A General Duties Patrol pursued the Mazda Bravo onto Erindale Drive, while a second General Duties Patrol continued to pursue the Mazda 121 along Drakeford Drive.

Police pursued the Mazda 121 for approximately 10 minutes, with the pursuit being terminated after the vehicle turned right onto Woodcock Drive onto the incorrect side of the road.

The Mazda 121 was later located by police abandoned in Gordon. Enquiries into the identity of the driver are ongoing.

Police pursued the Mazda Bravo along Erindale Drive and into Charleston Street where the vehicle came to a stop after leaving the road and entering grassland.

The 16-year-old driver was apprehended by police and taken to the ACT Watch House, where he is expected to be charged with various traffic related offences including driving a stolen motor vehicle, failing to stop for police and dangerous driving.

The maximum speed reached during the two pursuits was 162km/h in an 80km/h zone. No other vehicles were on the road at the time of either pursuit.

The 16-year-old teenager will appear in ACT Children’s Court today where police will be opposing bail.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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KeenGolfer said :

Cheap said :

One needs only look at the fatality rates for car chases in the US to see how wrong you are

Do you know the figures from US pursuit fatalties or is that just plucked out of thin air?

Whilst the data is very hard to determine due to different jurisdictions and recording of pursuits and incidents, data suggests that < 0.1% of pursuits in Australia end in a fatality and likely < 0.3% of USA pursuits end in a fatality.

There are around 300 deaths from pursuits in the USA every year, and considering there are likely to be 100,000 pursuits or more (no figures are available) their figures aren't so bad IMO. Australia has up to 10,000 pursuits every year, but again figures are hard to obtain. There is no doubt that US police have a lot more leniency in their pursuit policies than Aus police, but I'm not sure that is reflected in the figures.

I sure do know the figures, 20-40% of US chases end in injury. I can’t remember the injury statistics for Australia but I know they’re a lot less.

I haven’t seen the particular stats that you’re referring to, but I don’t think triple the fatalities per 100,000 is anything to be laughed at.

Cheap said :

One needs only look at the fatality rates for car chases in the US to see how wrong you are

Do you know the figures from US pursuit fatalties or is that just plucked out of thin air?

Whilst the data is very hard to determine due to different jurisdictions and recording of pursuits and incidents, data suggests that < 0.1% of pursuits in Australia end in a fatality and likely < 0.3% of USA pursuits end in a fatality.

There are around 300 deaths from pursuits in the USA every year, and considering there are likely to be 100,000 pursuits or more (no figures are available) their figures aren't so bad IMO. Australia has up to 10,000 pursuits every year, but again figures are hard to obtain. There is no doubt that US police have a lot more leniency in their pursuit policies than Aus police, but I'm not sure that is reflected in the figures.

HenryBG said :

Cheap said :

Rhino, the point is that if they continued the chase then the 121 driver would keep driving on the wrong side of the road which could result in a fatality. It’s easier to let him get away for now and potentially spare a human life.

And the *real* point missed by the brain-dead do-gooder leftie scumbag crimlovers is: by letting crims know that they can get away if they just do something dangerous, there will be more fatalities caused by more crims doing something dangerous. And more crims getting away to do more dangerous things without getting caught. Ad infinitum.

As for people blaming the police when a scumbag car thief kills somebody – essentially these complainers are all a bunch of crims themselves. Somebody should search their houses and arrest them all for possession of drugs and stolen property.

One needs only look at the fatality rates for car chases in the US to see how wrong you are

Antagonist said :

davo101 said :

What is it about Mazda 121s? Last time they only managed to get to 140 but the press release doesn’t say which of the two vehicles made it to 162. Can you get a Bravo up to that kind of speed?

I call BS on the ability of either car to reach 162 km/h. My money is on the cops reaching this speed.

A simple google search:

1985 Mazda 121 1.1 max speed is 149km/h
1985 Mazda 121 1.3 16v max speed is 175km/h
1991 Mazda 121 GLX max speed is 156km/h

Top speed for a Mazda Bravo (1998 – 2006) was a little more difficult to find, but I found some:

2004 B2500 2.5TD 84bhp max speed 140km/h
2004 B2500 2.5TD 109bhp max speed 146km/h

More searching revealed that the max speed for a Mazda Bravo is 115mph (185km/h).

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd9:15 am 04 Aug 12

What sort of moron condones police driving on the wrong side of the road? What exactly were they supposed to do?
It’s not a ideal outcome, but it’s better than a head on collision with a innocent family.

The tech is available, gps emitters fired from a rifle. Stick it to a car and you know where they are and can guess where they are headed.

Or lol, the old classic some bell end suggested, a desert eagle or 50 cal to the engine block ?_?

Cheap said :

Rhino, the point is that if they continued the chase then the 121 driver would keep driving on the wrong side of the road which could result in a fatality. It’s easier to let him get away for now and potentially spare a human life.

And the *real* point missed by the brain-dead do-gooder leftie scumbag crimlovers is: by letting crims know that they can get away if they just do something dangerous, there will be more fatalities caused by more crims doing something dangerous. And more crims getting away to do more dangerous things without getting caught. Ad infinitum.

As for people blaming the police when a scumbag car thief kills somebody – essentially these complainers are all a bunch of crims themselves. Somebody should search their houses and arrest them all for possession of drugs and stolen property.

rhino said :

I don’t see how the 121 could get away. They have a fifth of the power of a standard commodore even. I honestly can’t quite picture the scenario where he got away. If he went up the wrong side of the road, couldn’t they follow in the same direction on the correct side of the road? Surely he wouldn’t be too far away from them at any point given the power difference between the cars. Or is it just in their procedures to break off pursuit whenever anything dangerous is done by the other driver? And if this is the case, then going 82kph over the limit must not be considered dangerous by the police, but going up the wrong side of the road is?

I also second the fact that the 121 can definintely not get to 162kph unless there is a steep downhill involved, which there aren’t any around there. I suspect that the police were using their own speedo to read off that number and that would have been while they were gaining on the 121 significantly (which in theory would have been the whole time, except when they slow down around corners and the 121 would not)

http://www.police.act.gov.au/roads-and-traffic/urgent-duty-driving-and-pursuits

Rhino, the point is that if they continued the chase then the 121 driver would keep driving on the wrong side of the road which could result in a fatality. It’s easier to let him get away for now and potentially spare a human life.

I don’t see how the 121 could get away. They have a fifth of the power of a standard commodore even. I honestly can’t quite picture the scenario where he got away. If he went up the wrong side of the road, couldn’t they follow in the same direction on the correct side of the road? Surely he wouldn’t be too far away from them at any point given the power difference between the cars. Or is it just in their procedures to break off pursuit whenever anything dangerous is done by the other driver? And if this is the case, then going 82kph over the limit must not be considered dangerous by the police, but going up the wrong side of the road is?

I also second the fact that the 121 can definintely not get to 162kph unless there is a steep downhill involved, which there aren’t any around there. I suspect that the police were using their own speedo to read off that number and that would have been while they were gaining on the 121 significantly (which in theory would have been the whole time, except when they slow down around corners and the 121 would not)

MissChief said :

The attitude of “do something dangerous and the police will have to stop chasing you”, is not a new one. Nor is, “if police do not discontinue the chase after something dangerous, they will be blamed for anything that happens after that point”. Refer http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/specials/ipromise/crash-killer-second-time-driving-stolen-car/story-fn55yw9h-1225843520807

While that argument can be made, the families of the victims seem to have a hostile and negative view of police, as evidenced by the way they blame them entirely for the accident. It’s not like Mully was just going around minding his own business. Webb’s family doesn’t seem to think that riding in a stolen car was a poor choice for Skye, either, it’s all the fault of the po-po according to them.

The attitude of “do something dangerous and the police will have to stop chasing you”, is not a new one. Nor is, “if police do not discontinue the chase after something dangerous, they will be blamed for anything that happens after that point”. Refer http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/specials/ipromise/crash-killer-second-time-driving-stolen-car/story-fn55yw9h-1225843520807

A Mully-Mongrel legacy perhaps? Interestingly Mazda was his choice of stolen car.

HenryBG said :

The message I’m getting from this is, “If being chased by police, do something dangerous and they’ll let you get away”.

This couldn’t possibly come back to bite us…

I can’t believe I’m in agreement with HenryBG, but I am.

The message I’m getting from this is, “If being chased by police, do something dangerous and they’ll let you get away”.

This couldn’t possibly come back to bite us…

screaming banshee7:28 am 03 Aug 12

Antagonist said :

you would save yourself the embarrassment of being seen in public driving a dirty rotary.

You mean in between the regular apex seal changes

Growling Ferret said :

A 1976 Mazda 121, converted to an RX5 with a nice 13B or 13B turbo would have no worries getting to 160kmh…

You could also achieve the same by dropping it over the side of the Clyde. The Clyde being the preferable option since you would save yourself the embarrassment of being seen in public driving a dirty rotary.

Growling Ferret9:22 pm 02 Aug 12

A 1976 Mazda 121, converted to an RX5 with a nice 13B or 13B turbo would have no worries getting to 160kmh…

Martlark said :

121s are easy to steal. They are also amongst the most dangerous cars to be in if crashing.

I crashed one once (quite badly actually) and was fortunate to walk away without a scratch.

No mention in the report of the pursuit along Hurtle Ave, Bonython at 2.50am with the 121 leading a police sedan and station wagon on a merry chase towards Drakeford Drive.

Society is doomed. If car thieves stoop so low as to steal Mazda 121’s, what hope is there?

What a bunch of gay bar loitering, nancy boy trannies this lot must be…

Antagonist said :

davo101 said :

What is it about Mazda 121s? Last time they only managed to get to 140 but the press release doesn’t say which of the two vehicles made it to 162. Can you get a Bravo up to that kind of speed?

I call BS on the ability of either car to reach 162 km/h. My money is on the cops reaching this speed.

They might have been right up their clacka giving them a gentle nudge.

Antagonist said :

I call BS on the ability of either car to reach 162 km/h. My money is on the cops reaching this speed.

Good point I hadn’t considered that interpretation.

Martlark said :

121s are easy to steal. They are also amongst the most dangerous cars to be in if crashing.

Don’t know about that, some of those new Chinese jobbies seem to be very flimsy.

davo101 said :

What is it about Mazda 121s? Last time they only managed to get to 140 but the press release doesn’t say which of the two vehicles made it to 162. Can you get a Bravo up to that kind of speed?

I call BS on the ability of either car to reach 162 km/h. My money is on the cops reaching this speed.

121s are easy to steal. They are also amongst the most dangerous cars to be in if crashing.

grunge_hippy2:22 pm 02 Aug 12

zoom zoom indeed.

121’s can get along nicely on a hill. very light and small. Someone stole my dad’s and tried to burn it out, but forgot that once you shut the door with little fuel and oxygen, it goes out. car stealing fail. It still goes along quite nicely, but smelt a bit burnt for a while.

What is it about Mazda 121s? Last time they only managed to get to 140 but the press release doesn’t say which of the two vehicles made it to 162. Can you get a Bravo up to that kind of speed?

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