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 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲

closeparen 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲

bigfatkitten 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction.

The latter is often a result of the former. People self-medicating to escape misery.

▲

lukan 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"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?

▲

wredcoll 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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...)

▲

c420 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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 9 hours ago | parent [-]

> 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-purs...

[1] e.g https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58889155

	▲	dmurray 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		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-aft...

▲

8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

▲

seemaze 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Lots of high capacity vehicular infra in LA.. I imagine most places just have ‘chases’.

▲

georgeecollins 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Or.. https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k?si=7bXkaIri1_o95Ofs

▲

zimpenfish 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> 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.

▲

Rebelgecko 8 hours ago | parent [-]

California's 3 strikes law only applies to "serious" felonies. The list is pretty reasonable IMO. No one is getting life in prison for littering or insurance fraud

It's basically a list of violent crimes, the only one that seems out of pocket is selling PCP, meth, or cocaine to childre, which is bad but could arguably be less bad than the others on the list

	▲	aerostable_slug 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Raping an unconscious person is not on the list of violent felonies. Neither is domestic violence with traumatic injury, assault with a deadly weapon, or felony battery with serious bodily injury. It takes a lot to earn strikes in California.
	▲	zimpenfish 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> California's 3 strikes law only applies to "serious" felonies. But not all states are California. > No one is getting life in prison for littering or insurance fraud William James Rummel begs to differ[0] - fraudulent use of a credit card ($80), forged check ($28.36), failure to return payment for non-performed work ($120.75) and voila, life sentence (albeit later reduced to time served on procedural grounds.) [0] also references "Graham v. West Virginia, a 1912 case which involved an individual convicted of three separate counts of horse thievery total[l]ing $235" which ended up in a life sentence. In summary, some states may have sensible 3 strike laws, some may not. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummel_v._Estelle

▲

Aurornis 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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.