Mother of victim in police chase crash says fatal Morningside smash hits too close to home

Tuesday, 24 October 2017

A car carrying five people crashed into a tree during a police pursuit - a 25-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man died. (First published October 23, 2017)

The mother of a woman killed by a driver being chased by police 14 years ago says the latest fatal crash shows police pursuit tactics must change.

'How many people have to die in these crashes before police get it right?' said Auckland's Michelle Toko.

A driver fleeing police on Monday morning crashed into a tree killing two passengers. It is the second fatal police chase in Auckland in a fortnight.

Toko said Amber, who was 21 at the time, was stripped of the bright future ahead of her.

Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson also weighed in, slating the police-chase policy, saying it too often resulted in needless carnage.

'It's a myth that aggressive police pursuits catch the bad guys,' said Matthew-Wilson, 'the evidence is really clear: aggressive police pursuits frequently end in death or injury. And it's not just the guilty who get hurt.'

The bark scoured tree is all that remains at the car crash site in Morningside that claimed two lives.

But police stand by their policy.

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Michelle Toko mourns the loss of her daughter Amber, who died after a fleeing driver driver slammed into the back of her vehicle in 2003.

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Outspoken road safety campaigner and motoring website Dog & Lemon editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said it’s a myth that aggressive police pursuits catch the bad guys.

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Four people died on our roads during the holiday weekend, two of them in a crash during a police pursuit. A further four were seriously injured in those crashes. These incidents and the death of 15-year-old Morrocco Tai during a police chase two we

TWO KILLED AND THREE INJURED IN TRAGIC CAR CRASH

One passenger died at the scene, another at hospital, after a silver VW Golf driven by a 22-year-old male slammed into a tree at high speeds in the suburb of Morningside.

Three other passengers were taken to Auckland City hospital with serious injuries.

Police initially spotted the vehicle speeding at about 130kmh in an 80kmh zone on the nearby northwestern motorway.

A police motorway patrol car caught up to the vehicle, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said, but it failed to pull over and instead fled from police, initiating the pursuit.

Around 1am, the vehicle left the motorway at St Lukes Rd and, while overtaking another vehicle opposite the Kings Plant Barn, crashed into a tree near the road's intersection with Asquith Ave.

Beard said the police car was about 300 metres behind the fleeing vehicle when the crash happened.

On Tuesday, the three injured people were all deemed to be in stable conditions, and moved into general wards.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

The mother of a crash victim, who died when a fleeing vehicle overtook their car, said youths need to consider the potentially deadly implications of fleeing police at high speeds.

Michelle Toko said she turned to alcohol and had suicidal thoughts in the 10 years after losing her daughter Amber in 2003.

She said the emotional toll it took was enormous.

Amber, 21, and her partner Joseph Ahkiau, 33, were killed after a speeding teenage driver ploughed into their truck around midnight of December 18 - her mother's birthday.

The 19-year-old man was fleeing police at high speeds through Mt Roskill, in a chase that lasted only a minute before the impact.

The couple died at the scene, as did the passenger in the offending driver's car.

Toko said she had a break down around 2007.

'I didn't want to live anymore. I was so traumatised by it, and I'm a damn strong woman.'

She said after a very dark period, the main thing that pulled her through was family; being there for her youngest daughter and her son was paramount.

'I've only just been able to start living my life again in the last three years.'

'I've only just got to the stage where she's not in my thoughts constantly but nearly every month I'm reminded due to yet more deaths.'

When hearing of the fleeing driver crash on Morningside on Monday, Toko's first reaction was 'not again, does anything ever change?'.

'[Police] are out there to protect us and we want them to protect us but it wasn't just the drunk driver that contributed to my daughters demise - if the police hadn't been chasing him he wouldn't have killed my daughter - so they need to take responsibility for their actions as well because they are 50 per cent of why my daughter is not here.'

'It's just so difficult because they're damned if they do [pursue fleeing drivers] and damned if they don't - but there must be a better solution.'

'It is time to look at police policies and procedures again.'

When asked what message she had for youths considering fleeing police, Toko urged youths to think beyond that immediate moment.

'Don't be impulsive, you will lose your life within a second.

'And don't forget that for every person you potentially kill, there's so many people around them that has to suffer for your one action of not thinking.'

FLEEING - MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Police must strike a balance between the responsibility to protect life and the duty to enforce the law, said Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Sandra Venables.

'But at the end of the day it is up to the driver to take more responsibility and make better decisions.'

She said the two recent fleeing driver incidents, which both resulted in fatalities, demonstrate the tragic consequences that can occur if a driver chooses not to stop for police.

'This type of behaviour has to stop.

'They are putting not only themselves at risk but also their passengers, police staff and innocent members of our community going about their daily lives.'

Venables said fleeing from police brings little chance of escaping punishment and a much higher chance of facing more serious charges.

'If police officers stop pursuing a fleeing driver due to safety risks we will conduct vigorous follow-up investigations to locate the vehicle and hold the driver to account.'

In the majority of cases the outcomes will be much more significant than if the driver had simply stopped at the time when signalled to do so.

'POLICE NEED TO UPDATE THEIR POLICIES'

Matthew-Wilson said: 'Research has shown that if the police refrain from chasing all offenders or terminate their pursuits, no significant increase in the number of suspects who flee would occur.'

'Many Australian states ban or restrict police chases, except in emergencies. These policies are often hated by frontline police, but have proven results.'

Between 2000 and 2011, there were 19 deaths associated with police chases in Queensland.

'But since restrictions on police chases were put in place six years ago, there have been no deaths associated with police pursuits.'

The Queensland pursuits policy states that pursuits are 'inherently dangerous' and should only be undertaken if those fleeing are an 'imminent threat to life' or involved in a serious offence.

The Australian state of Victoria has a similar policy. Victorian head of road policing, Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer, rejected the idea that the state's cautious pursuit policy meant criminals 'got away with it.'

'We would far prefer to drag an offender out of bed at six o'clock in the morning than try to drag them out of a car after a crash.'

Matthew-Wilson said it was pointless for the police to try and lecture young offenders on the risks of fleeing police: 'These guys are idiots, and they're often blotto as well. They don't think of consequences – they get a rush of adrenaline and just take off at high speed.

'These fleeing drivers aren't going to stop and think about what they're doing, so it's up to the police to use their heads instead.'

'The police have other options: they can use surveillance cameras, helicopters, road spikes, or simply notify other police cars and quietly pursue the fleeing vehicle at a distance.'

FLEEING DRIVER POLICY 'FIT FOR PURPOSE'

Police's fleeing driver policy is an extensively reviewed and revised document, with seven major reviews occurring since 1996.

Venables said it was last was updated in July 2016, to ensure it remains 'fit for purpose' and aligns with other police policies.

'The changes stem from a desire within Police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority to ensure a continuous improvement approach applies in this policy area.

'Each review has strengthened and enhanced and refined our policy to make it safer for all.'

SECOND FATAL AUCKLAND CHASE IN TWO WEEKS

This was the second fatal crash involving a police chase in Auckland this month.

On October 9, south Auckland teen Morocco Tai died after the car he was driving ploughed into a tree following a brief police chase in Ōtara.

Three youths including Tai, 15, were in the stolen car.

Tai had earlier been a passenger in a stolen car which was driven the wrong way on a busy motorway.

Police would not comment on how Tai came to be behind the wheel so soon after the motorway incident.

For the motorway chase and related incidents, Tai had been charged with aggravated robbery, endangering transport and aiding a driver in a dangerous matter.