Dude, this is pretty intense. This man stole an Amazon van earlier this month when it was dropping off car parts at a car dealership, and then led police on a wild chase down Miami's I-95.
Police just released the video, and it's awesome.
Here it is:
-John
That driver was pretty good to get that van in and out of I-95 traffic like that but he didn’t know FHP don’t play.
ReplyDeleteI saw another dashcam video of the same chase yesterday, but from the perspective of a bystander - apparently, some civilian followed the chase and filmed it. It went on for a loooong time, at really high speeds. Lots of cops, one at a time, trying to take out the van, and it shook them off like gnats. I was kinda in awe of it.
ReplyDeleteNow, heres a good point to ask the question: do video games cause violence?
ReplyDeleteIf GTA was never published, would this incident have taken place?
Legit question, throw your biases aside and ponder a moment...
I'm an absolutist when it comes to free speech, GTA should be 10x worse IMO... legally allowed to be, at least.
But the question was posed decades ago, and bears repeating. Is this activity inspired by games like GTA? Do violent video games beget violent behaviours in society?
I personally think its a chicken or egg debate. People are violent, why do you think someone invented the game? I see art as downstream from culture, not the other way around (art is often so far in-front of mainstream culture however, the roles are viewed as reversed).
IMHO video games like GTA don't inspire this type of stuff (the original theft at the car dealer), but they could certainly make some gansta aspire to try stuff like this (driving like an idiot on an interstate without regard for consequences or injury to other innocent drivers that might just happen to get in the way). Article sez the van was delivering parts to a car dealer (and we all know how overpriced car parts are), so likely in an inside job to target that van in particular.
DeleteIt's definitely a video game inspired thing. Video games give the player the idea they’re indestructible and get their adrenaline flowing. Back in 1985 I was inspired to do a similar thing in my 1972 VW Beetle after playing Nintendo duck hunt for 9 hours straight.
DeleteI don't know if video games cause violence, but I banned my son from using GTA on my computer when he lived here.
DeleteThe reason the "pit" maneuver didnt work is the van is front wheel drive, and the driver knew to keep on the throttle to power through it...
ReplyDeletedang. whats Amazon using for vans. that things a tank.
ReplyDeleteWow! So much for needing an expensive car to do cool stuff. I'm going to snag a used Amazon van. Probably just getting broken in at 250k!
ReplyDeleteMercedes "Sprint" Vans mostly are what I see delivering Amazon stuff around here (Palm Beach County, so not too far from where this happened). Apparently not too top-heavy despite the outward appearance (unless it was loaded with heavy car parts lowering the center of gravity also Axeanda45s comment helps explain that). I want to see the mug shot because I would think the perp got a tune up of sorts as he "resisted arrest".
ReplyDeleteIt also shows how a heavier vehicle can shrug off a pit maneuver much more easily. And, as has been pointed out, a driver who knows how to work with Front Wheel drive.
ReplyDeleteLarger pickups can do this as well, especially 4WD. Heavy vehicles make a difference.
"Pitting" a car only really works when a driver doesn't know how to counter it.
I saw one the other day, dude was running in a lifted Ram 3500 dually. Didn't see the outcome, but he did shrug off a few pit attempts.
DeleteWhat type of van was that?
ReplyDeleteStolen
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