Recently posted to YouTube by user Eric Vangsness, it seems that someone driving a Corvette C5 allegedly decided it would be a great idea to try to run from the police.
Allegedly happening in Texas, the dashcam video has the C5 passing the cam-equipped vehicle at what could be lightly called a “generous amount of speed.”
The driver then, assuming that it’s pretty normal for a Corvette to go that fast, starts to sing along to his music (Leona Lewis – “Bleeding Love” in case anyone is wondering).
About 20 seconds later, however, a police interceptor SUV screams by.
Encouraging the police officer in his pursuit, you can hear the driver exclaiming “Go on, Pat! You’ll get him!” approximately 5 seconds before the officer starts to pull over.
Passing by the scene, you can see on the video at about 54 seconds that a cone for the roadworks has been displaced and flattened onto the side berm, with skidmarks indicating a tail-out slide.
From a track racing point of view, this type of slide is usually induced by either too much steering input to correct against too much entry speed, or by sudden hard throttle after coming off the brakes.
The car is several hundred yards down the grass embankment, with the officer pulling over to arrest the driver.
It is obvious that three things happened in this video:
- The driver tried to outrun the police. Don’t do this. Especially now, in a pandemic, when their attention needs to be focused on way more urgent matters.
- The driver did not have the requisite skill to drive at that speed.
- A beautiful Corvette C5 was abused. This may be the saddest part of this video.
In Texas, at least as far as a quick search shows, Fleeing and/or Eluding a Texas Law Enforcement Officer is a Class B misdemeanor, and conviction leads to a maximum penalty of 180 days in prison and a $2,000 fine.
It gets worse if you recklessly endanger others while fleeing, in which case it is upgraded to a Class A misdemeanor, which is 365 days in prison and a $4,000 fine. Oh, and your license will more than likely be suspended.
Don’t run from the cops, people. If you’re speeding, you’re speeding. Pull over, take it on the chin, learn from your experience, and keep the high speed stuff for track days.
