OZschwitz gulag: Call to ban pursuits of stolen vehicle

THE parents of a Canberra student hit by a stolen car during a police chase four years ago said pursuits were a licence to kill and should be banned unless the public was in danger.

Clea Rose, 21, died three weeks after she was struck by a Holden Commodore in July 2005. A 14-year-old boy was driving the car when he tried to evade police by turning into a bus interchange filled with pedestrians, where he struck Ms Rose.

Yesterday Frances Rose and Ross Dunn, who have been lobbying for changes to pursuit guidelines since their daughter's death, said the latest crash on Saturday should not have taken place.

''If you sanction pursuits, you are authorising killing people,'' Mr Dunn said. ''Crashes are predicted in at least 10 per cent of pursuits. If you do it enough, people will die.''

A review of pursuits ordered by the ACT government after Ms Rose's death determined police guidelines should acknowledge that car theft was not a serious enough offence to warrant putting the public at risk by starting a pursuit. But the government and Australian Federal Police rejected the recommendation of the former Commonwealth ombudsman, Alan Cameron.

''That has resulted in another four deaths,'' Ms Rose said. ''This is a minor offence … Why should a young man of 23 die because he stole a car?''

The couple said it was up to politicians, not police, to change the rules.''As soon as it is clear they are not going to stop, you mustn't follow them any further,'' Mr Dunn said. ''A lot of these drivers are not capable of driving at high speeds. They are often just kids. They'll end up killing others or themselves.''

The family had developed a training video for ACT police on the dangers of engaging in pursuits. NSW Police was also considering using the video.

''It was so avoidable,'' Mr Dunn said of his daughter's death. ''That's what hurts. And that's why we are saying what we're saying … so that others won't go through the horrible, horrible experience we've had.''

LNK

OZschwitz gulag: Call to ban pursuits of stolen vehicle

OZschwitz gulag: Call to ban pursuits of stolen vehicle

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

Via AnCaps: Law & Enforced Unnatural Order