If you’re like most people, you’ve been cruising along on the highway and suddenly realized you’re dangerously close to a police officer. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, the natural instinct is to slow down, sometimes dropping below the speed limit. After all, nobody wants a ticket and the fear is if you stand out from the surrounding cars you just might.
Here’s yet another piece of evidence proving drivers don’t pay attention.
Cops know all this and many times aren’t interested in you (but not always). In this situation the Arkansas trooper whose dashcam footage we’re sharing had a Ford Mustang do this very thing one night. Even though the pony car slowed down, the trooper noticed something odd: one of the headlights was “defective.” That triggered a series of events that eventually led to a PIT maneuver at 117 mph.
After noticing the headlight issue and realizing no matter how slow he went the Mustang wouldn’t pass his car, the trooper pulls off to the shoulder, then gets behind the Ford to run its plate. While doing that he notices the driver drifts over the lane line without signaling, giving him a reason to initiate a traffic stop.
Some might think this is nit-picky and well it is but an officer can pull you over for this very thing. Instead of just pulling over and dealing with the trooper, the Mustang driver decides running is a better solution. As you already know, that was a horrible decision.
Eventually, with speeds exceeding 100 mph, the trooper decides to just PIT the fleeing Mustang out. By the time he executes the TVI both cars are traveling 117 mph, heightening the risk. And sure enough, not only does the pony car spin out and hit the cable barrier in the median, so does the trooper’s cruiser.
What we don’t get to see in the first video but is in the second one we’ve also shared is Little Rock Police continuing the chase as the suspect regains control of his car and takes off. He blacks out the Mustang and takes the next exit, starts to lose control of his car, then a cop runs into the virtually invisible car, sending the Ford careening into a street sign pole.
The driver was unconscious and had to be extricated from the Mustang. Surely pulling over wouldn’t have been nearly as traumatic of an experience.
Image via Police Pursuits/YouTube
Follow The Auto Wire on Google News.
+ There are no comments
Add yours