Young driver makes wise choice

Police are congratulating a fleeing driver for making the right choice last night after he thought better of trying to evade Police in Auckland because his passengers begged him to stop.

Auckland City District staff signalled for a car to stop as they believed the vehicle was stolen. The driver initially sped off but soon slowed down to the speed limit and then stopped.

When Police approached the vehicle and asked why the driver had made the right choice, the two 15 year old passengers and the 16 year old driver said they did not want to end up like the other four kids who died on Friday night, referring to the quadruple fatality in Mangere.

The passengers said they had yelled at the driver during the pursuit and had got him to stop.

"Drivers who fail to stop for Police and flee to avoid apprehensive pose huge risks to themselves and other road users.

"We think this message is so powerful that Police will be using this real life story as the basis of a new social media campaign aimed at youth.

"The driver of the car makes a decision that affects everyone in the car, but the passengers can also do something about it," Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff said.

"In this case they were able to "man up" and save their own lives and, possibly, those of the driver and other innocent road users.

"In the vast majority of these incidents we find there is more than one person in the vehicle. In fact there are often far too many people in the car and they are often the ones who needlessly lose their lives or who are injured and affected for life."

The three were taken into custody and will be dealt with through Police Youth Aid Section.

ENDS

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