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Bold new plan for police pursuits:
Constable Peter McAulay, 24, was hit early [on the morning of Sept. 27] after setting up road spikes to try and stop two teenagers in an allegedly stolen vehicle. A 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl have been charged with attempted murder after Constable McAulay was rushed to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital with serious head injuries and broken bones and fractures.
After the horrific crash, Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers is calling for remote vehicle immobilisers to become mandatory in new cars.
"I started in 2012. I have written to three successive prime ministers but it is now time for action, bipartisan support. With remote engine immobilisers there will never be a need for a police pursuit," Mr Leavers told Today. "The primary situation is to protect lives and property. It can improve safety. It is a great thing. It is a no-brainer. We need to change the Australian design regulation. Within five to 10 years there will never be another police pursuit. We will be able to disable any stolen car at any point in time and ensure safety. It is commonsense."
The proposed engine immobilisers wouldn't just be able to stop a car in its tracks, police would also be able to track vehicles through GPS.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Thursday October 04 2018, @05:42AM (20 children)
Serial killers immobilize their helpless victims as they travel.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @05:52AM (11 children)
and criminals onl;y target older vehicles, the ones without the kill switch. This is a bad idea (like it needs to be explained?).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @06:04AM (9 children)
but if I ever buy one, it's going to be a 1974 Dodge Challenger.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @06:13AM (8 children)
Word to the wise: Never buy any motor vehicle produced in the USA during the 1970's. Citation: K cars! jmorris's K cars! Maladaptive! Disfunctional! Prone to degradation and incidents of dis-repair! A Republican dream era in Detroit!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @07:18AM (7 children)
Used to own 2 early 70's Detroit cars. Not the greatest on fuel economy (nothing was), but maintenance was super cheap. There were something like 16 bolts in the whole engine compartment and you could fit 1-2 people in all the open space.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @07:49AM (6 children)
And why would you need to stuff a couple people into your engine compartment, unless you were trafficking? "ICE Officer! Pullover that K-car! Stat!"
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday October 04 2018, @09:49AM (5 children)
I used to do work on the engine while sitting on a front mudguard (US = fender) facing inwards with my legs inside. I also kept a spare 5l can of oil in there, toolboxes, tow rope etc.
(Score: 3, Informative) by fyngyrz on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:07PM (4 children)
We call them fenders because they are there to fend off damage to the main car structure, and also, because they don't do a single thing to guard against mud, so calling them mudguards would be... silly. Same reason we call the storage area in the rear of the vehicle a trunk; because it's a box with a lid, not something you stick your foot into (a "boot")
We also call where you park a car a driveway, and where you drive your car a parkway, so there's that. Our sanity is not very uniform... ;)
(Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:40PM (3 children)
We call it a trunk not because they are a box with a lid, but because they initially were literally trunks strapped to the back of vehicles, such a useful idea it became standard to simply built into the bodywork.
Here is an example you can still buy new for the purpose [snydersantiqueauto.com]
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday October 04 2018, @10:09PM (2 children)
Yep. It's like a trunk, and it's used like a trunk, and we used to carry trunks around just as you describe (and well before motor vehicles did it, too... check out stagecoaches, personal coaches, etc.) Perfectly apt description.
Then there's shipment (sent by truck) and cargo (sent by ship.)
Slim chance... fat chance... same.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Humanitarians eat... humans?
I love English. It's such a mess. :)
(Score: 4, Funny) by Reziac on Friday October 05 2018, @06:51AM
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
--James D. Nicoll
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Friday October 05 2018, @03:14PM
Which always makes me think of the perhaps cliched quote (I believe it is attributed to James Nicoll, but frankly I am not certain of its parentage at this point).
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @06:14AM
Yeah because it won't become a shady industry in itself - the disabling of killswitches. At which point police will only need to chase criminals. Oh wait!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by melikamp on Thursday October 04 2018, @07:26AM (5 children)
Constable was punched in the nose after turning over a wheelbarrow to try and stop two teenagers with an allegedly stolen sack of apples. A 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl have been charged after Constable was rushed to the nearest first aid kit with mild head injuries and heavily bruised ego.
After the horrific incident, Queensland Police Union is calling for remote person immobilisers to become mandatory on new Australians.
"I have written to three successive prime ministers but it is now time for action, bipartisan support. With remote person immobilisers there will never be a need for a police pursuit," Mr Weener told Today. "The primary situation is to protect lives and property. It can improve safety. It is a great thing. It is a no-brainer. We need to change the Australian baby regulation. Within 10 to 20 years there will never be another police pursuit. We will be able to disable any suspicious person at any point in time and ensure safety. It is commonsense."
The proposed neck-worn electro-shock person immobilisers wouldn't just be able to stop a person in his/her tracks, police would also be able to track people through GPS.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:09AM
It is all too common for people to be divided by superficial qualities such as class or race. The poor congregate and struggle to attain food and shelter. The vanishing middle class faces a heavy tax burden and a dying job market, often blaming the poor for their issues. The various races squabble amongst one another at the behest of the elites. And the rich live lavishly, largely insulated from the troubles of the rest of society. Yet, despite all of this, a situation has arisen that threatens to demolish all of these barriers.
There were three children. The first was Sally, a little white girl born into an affluent family where all of her desires were met. Second, there was Benjamin; he was an African American boy who grew up in an inner city area known for poverty and crime. The third and final child was Young, who was born into a strict, abusive middle class family on the verge of collapse. These children all had vastly different backgrounds, to the point where you would never expect them to interact in any significant way. However, that was wrong.
These children shared one huge commonality, which was important enough to unite them all together. Just what brought these children together? No, a better question would be, 'Who brought these children together?' The answer to that question was the man standing near them.
His name was Jefferham. Jefferham strongly believed in unity. In fact, no one was more firm in their support of unifying the world and all of its people than Jefferham. This great man worked tirelessly to destroy the barriers that separated the various classes, races, and genders. It was he who unified these children. It was he who brought them together. And he did so by forcibly violating them.
Unity. Those children stood united by the fact that their pleas for mercy were ignored by Jefferham! They stood united by the sheer soul-crushing terror they felt whenever Jefferham turned his lustful gaze towards them! They stood united by the fact that they could die at any second if they dared to incur the wrath of Jefferham! They stood united by the fact that their screams and cries of despair and agony only served to make Jefferham become even more violent! They stood united!
And it didn't end there. There were more children by the names of Eric, Thomas, and Jacky. Those unsuspecting children would soon stand united as well! No, it wasn't just them, but the entire world.
Yes, under Jefferham's kind and caring guidance, the world would enter into an age of unity never before seen. And it would happen one child at a time. Jefferson smiled and licked his lips in anticipation...
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @09:16AM
Well put! Anonmodding you +1
Police advocate for a police state, news at 11.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Spook brat on Thursday October 04 2018, @12:09PM (1 child)
<sarcasm>Nah, neck-worn is old-school, [wikipedia.org] we need to focus on the next thing coming. [theonion.com] The future is in brain implants, and there's already a reference implementation. [wikipedia.org] Mandatory implantation at birth will shortly lead to universal adoption. It will pacify any uncooperative subject immediately upon activation. Can be triggered remotely, and has an option for autonomous monitoring and punishment for thoughtcrime! Direct brain stimulation is also available for promoting/rewarding appropriate behaviors.
The police force's job will be so much easier once the implant program is fully adopted, I can't imagine anyone objecting to it.</sarcasm>
Travel the galaxy! Meet fascinating life forms... And kill them [schlockmercenary.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 06 2018, @04:36AM
We laugh and cry but in a few years this will be the bleak reality. But I think it will be more like Brave new world than Nineteen eighty four in that it probably won't be the government chip but the facebook chip, voluntarily installed at target's request and expense. And the mindless masses will accept it gladly, much like smartphones today, without slightest shred of second thought or indeed fear. And it will be a very complicated thing and do much more than zap us when we talk about the president's scandals. Likely it will alter our behavior only slightly but all the times, certainly at the beginning. Government access will merely be added to the current lawful interception [wikipedia.org] statutes for the usual reasons.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:55PM
Manna by Marshall Brain includes spinal column interrupters as a key component of Utopia.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:34AM (1 child)
Now that's not nice.
Australian cops are not serial killers.
Perhaps you are thinking of a different country.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:40PM
The idiot cop deployed a spike strip,
and was then stupid enough to position himself where he could get hit by the car
(after it went out of control post hitting the spike strip)
Give that idiot a darwin award if he dies, and some common sense training if he doesn't.
There's no reason for high-speed car chases these days anyway,
using a helicopter or drone to track them without endagering innocent bystanders is a much safer approach,
as a bonus that doesn't need a big-brother dystopian kill switch in our cars