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Gotta love these new laws that let all the bad guys get away to wreck more lives. Sad.

A pretty steep conjecture, that the wrong way driver wouldn't have been even more dangerous if he was fleeing a pursuit. Though it's very weird that there wouldn't be communication between WSP officers in Ellensburg and Yakima and Sunnyside (as well as sheriffs). WSP is pretty tight lipped though- we may never know what happened. I've already seen more than one version of this story, in different local media (I live nearby in Tri Cities)

How much more dangerous could he have been then speeding wrong way on an interstate and killing two kids??

If someone wants to kill themselves going the wrong way, you want cops driving the wrong way on the interstate to stop them? Are you that dumb???

“Lets add armed individuals also driving at high speeds going the opposite direction of traffic!!” Is the dumbest response ever. Any chase will make the driving more extreme. They can’t outrun a radio.

They could always radio ahead with these situations and they do. But what’s the point of advising other cops if they can’t chase them either?

But they didn’t kill themselves. They killed two kids.

I think the point is that they "could have" and should have died, doing that. It's a wonder that they didn't.

I hope that guy never sees daylight again.

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Remember the UPS incident in Florida??

>20 over the speed limit needs to be a felony traffic violation, on any road, period. It is in most states...

20 over is not a felony in most states, in fact, I don't think it's a felony in a single state. Also, advocating for creating more felons, by way of traffic infractions, is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

At 20 over, the violator knows what he or she is doing, and that's why it is, in fact, a criminal traffic offense (yes, a felony) in many states, requiring a mandatory appearance before a magistrate. It's way above a simple "sorry officer, but I didn't know I was speeding".

So 90 in a 70 is acceptable to you; what's the acceptable punishment for you when you are doing 111 in a 70? I'm curious to know where you feel you should be held accountable.

Wrong-way drivers and police pursuits caused bystander deaths before this law went into effect.

>that's why it is, in fact, a criminal traffic offense (yes, a felony)

Citation needed.

20mph over the posted limit isn't a felony ANYWHERE in the US.

I'm not arguing for or against speeding, I'm merely pointing out you are saying and repeating a falsehood.

Bystanders are still dying.

DUI is only a misdemeanor in most situations. Speeding is usually just a traffic infraction, even at 20 over, unless they can also prove reckless driving (which is criminal, but also generally only misdemeanor criminal).

In CA, the fines double at 15mph. Anecdotes suggest they rarely even bother people going less than 15 over and often write tickets for more than 15 at the lower level anyways. They actually have a law that makes exceeding 100mph considered reckless driving.

Then we get further away into NV, UT, ID, MT, they have higher speed limits (75 and 80) to begin with. NV, speeding is a misdemeanor (fine no more than $20 per mph over the limit capped at $1000 which implies misdemeanor charges for going 50 over!). UT's reckless driving law kicks in at 105mph. ID doesn't have anything super clear on the subject, but there doesn't appear to be any explicit excessive speeding statute. Similar in MT, though school and work zones can upgrade the infraction to a misdemeanor. No mention of felonies in any of those states...

I think you have some incorrect perceptions on how things work in other states.

And? Is there evidence showing that this law has increased bystander deaths? Honestly seems way too early to make any statistically significant claims one way or the other.

I live in the mid columbia valley , where this happened. If 20 over was a felony, half the population would be in jail or have a family member in jail, and the ag sector would be destroyed. Not saying it's good, but the rules of the road out here are pretty different.

Most traffic offenses that require court appearances, including speeding, are misdemeanors, not felonies.

In some states, including WA, speeding while evading police is a felony and there are a few other specific conditions where driving at high speeds can turn into a felony (e.g. speeding resulting in manslaughter). But the act of speeding alone is not a felony, i.e., if you’re tagged for doing 25 over at a speed trap but you pull over when directed, you’re getting a citation and court appearance but not a felony charge.

High speed chases need to be outlawed at this point. There are more deaths from people fleeing the cops than there are from actual criminal activity now.

Spokane finally put a chopper up in the air to follow when they called off ground pursuit, its actually helped capture these Fs after the chase ends. So now, the judges who let them out on their own recognizance same day takes the blame when they go out and wreak havoc the next day.

Go drive in Tennessee. The commercial truckers go 15 over and ride the ass of people who only go 10 over. 20 over is common. You thought we had bad drivers here - WA is nothing. Going to the east coast really opened my eyes to southern hospitality - they are nice because they are taking out their aggression on the road.

The police ahead could shutdown the road and warn people to so they don't get killed.

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If the driver was going the wrong way on the freeway AN HOUR after the persuit ended, the crash had nothing to do with being pursued by WSP. Also, the driver was going 111 mph before the pursuit started. WSP is just a footnote here. The real story is a possible drunk/drugged driver was going 111 mph and then was going the wrong way on the freeway and caused a fatal accident.

It is also *highly unlikely* (actually complete nonsense) that police chases cause more deaths than criminal activity.

According to whom?

Do you really think police chases cause more deaths than criminal activity? No. How many people die everyday from police chases?

According to this study it's less than 1 per day. If less than 1 person per day is dying due to criminal activity then your claim is correct. I'm sure illegal drugs alone kill more than that.

https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/10/2/93 (old article but I'm not spending a bunch of time on this)

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And you didn't refute my first comment about the article either.

I was exaggerating to be funny, I know it angers bootlickers.

Ah, I completely missed the funny part of that.

Exactly. Plus the thugs in blue be being using them to steal our cars and put all of us in jail so hard. Jail so hard. Plus, towing companies make more than social workers when they impound your car and crush it into garbage if you don't empty your bank accounts and give them all of your money. All of your money. The Seattle subreddit has a good post yesterday about how they be. Lincoln Towing is the CONservative devil.

Yeah, good call. Just let them hit & kill someone else. That’s brilliant! I mean, sure, they’ve been trained to stop fleeing cars but why bother?!? Just turn off the twirlers & wait to clean up the wreckage. Totally successful no-stop there. Thanks for the enlightenment.