Chase Spin a Disgrace
Candor Trust

The Naitoko families call today supporting tougher penalties for fleeing drivers is not evidence based. Such measures are diversionary from where the real work needs to be done, about a serious public safety issue, as tougher penalties simply don't deliver any results per foreign experience.

The call for more stick is based on an irrational world view being espoused by Police, one predicated on the view that persons who evade Police attention make rational decisions. A view well put paid by comments made today by the ex Childrens Commissioner who noted that youth aren't PhDs in wise action and foresight.

Our recent cross cultural focus group show the last thing on runners minds is getting into an accident. Studies looking into the heads of runners find odd processes. They certainly don't run for lack of respect for the law, as asserted by the latest Collins/Police Association spin. Reasons have been found by serious inquirers versus armchair MP commentators.

Motives diverge depending whether you ask Police, or go to the horses mouth. Here runners have been quadrupled by fear of boy racer sanctions, and by substantial raises in ticket quotas resulting in more attempts to pull over profiled vehicles like brown drivers in South Aucks.

Police say the young bucks run because of; avoidance of impaired driving or drug arrest, avoiding minor traffic tickets stolen vehicle or arrest for a crime (12%), and 44% for miscellaneous reasons; fear of the Police, disliking Police or just excitement. U.S. Studies have affirmed Police are more likely to bash people they chased, so best policies have non involved Officers doing the cuffing.

Yet Minister Collins spends inordinate time bloating the public mind with a swathe of deceptive soundbytes in which all useful, salient illuminating info is carefully edited out of the dominant monologue. A monologue a Nat struck media has generally failed to balance with facts, enabling the highest chase death toll and related homicides in the OECD.

Judith Collins has audaciously dismissed expert opinions about the need to reduce chases including those of Justice Goddard, Dr Geoff Alpert, Candor Trust and others with much more concern for trauma reduction than she exhibits. The Trust is concerned at the populist approach, as a Ministerial role should entail a grave sense of responsibility.

Her excuse for donning ear muffs against the experts is that they don't live in the crime ridden areas where chases are flourishing. This is as disingenious as saying that a Doctor cannot offer advice on how to treat a diabetes epidemic, unless he lives in the chocolate factory.

The problem has come lately, and it has flared up under Judith with 19 deaths in one year, so she has more homicide on her hands than any of the gang Presidents or methamphetamine dealers, whom she likes to focus on.

Sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment, she eggs Police to chase shifty lookers in South Auckland as drug finds bring accolades. 45% of chases ending in crashes involve suspected drug or drunk driving. The studies show some run for fear of drug possession laws, and it appears a recent multi fatality chase only occurred as teens had pot in their car.

In the words of Dr Geoff Alpert nothing is more dangerous than an impaired driver who is being chased, that's not opinion but is based on case control studies. A drunk or drugged trip is far less likely to end in tragedy when chases aren't the preferred technique of social control.

Judith Collins most determined attempts to dumb down the Public, so that they may not freely consider the issue and stumble on the tried and tested answers, as instituted in safety valuing countries revolve around 3 themes.

Firstly, her team of "dim doctors" is at pains to put the sole focus on fleeing drivers, doing so in a blaming emotive way which cuts short any further problem solving around other and most powerful contributing factors. Reality check; all successful countries acknowledge that policy primarily attempts to deter those who would run are inherently failure prone.

Secondly, her dim doctors are attempting to create a them and us perception, in seeking to paint all runners as hardened criminals, with themselves as the primary and well deserving victims. So who cares.
Reality check; Goddards report says innocent victims are common and 90% run over trivia, in line with the global situation. Paula Rose has pled that there is nothing so serious it can't be worked out.

But youth perception is less level headed, and once the chase is on studies show most runners won't stop till they feel safe from Police, which is to say they believe they can out run them. The pleas of any captive passengers fall on deaf ears of teen spirit.

Thirdly, the dim doctors, inculcate the myth that chases enhance safety and crime fighting, as with heavy restrictions there would supposedly be more road trauma and Police couldn't function. Melodramatically they suggest society would go to pot. Actually, pursuits don't guarantee apprehension which can often be even more likely without one being commenced (at a later time). And crime rates haven't increased where chases were virtually banned - homicides dropped.

Also, pursuits for most discreet indications massively increase crash odds over non engagement, say all the studies looking at the "to chase or not to chase" dilemna. Meaning the common spin soundbyte "damned if they do and damned if they don't" is founded on (wilful) ignorance of the state of traffic science research. Perhaps only 2% of chase initiations may involve reckless driving, but all will produce it - not a smart gamble on public roads.

The reason Candor Trust is concerned to see changes to chase policy is that its strategic plan has identified chases as the second biggest preventable cause of impaired driving homicide to innocent road users like teen passengers, after drug driving.

The Trust cannot make progress on drug driving when the Government continues playing Ostrich, denying efficacy of the roadside drug tests used for over a decade overseas. Confronted with firm resolve by Government to avoid the biggest life saving opportunity (keeps drug users votes safe), the Trust turned 3 years ago to the smaller but more easily fixed side issues of chase deaths as a priority. As impaired driving tolls were hammered in multiple jurisdictions via reform of old hat chase policies such as Collins defends.

The Trust challenges Collins to a live debate about drug policy and quotas revenue and the chase toll, and how she can be so right about policy, and the rest of the world where chases are phasing out, like Queensland, Tasmania, Ontario and endless others with virtual zero chase tolls and better road tolls, can be so wrong.

Annette King would have related to stakeholders including Maori, who're most impacted, not dictated from a throne. The answers are known, the Herald and Dompost both did great chase features illuminating them atop Goddards report.

Candor has put it out there, so all deaths ensuing from worlds worst policy now lie on Collins door-step, not ours. She won't get away with it, too many grieve, and education is the Trusts ongoing commitment. Educated Publics do not stand for barbaric policies, and it is results that will shape MP's careers.

ends

© Scoop Media