A more cautious approach by New Zealand Police towards chasing fleeing drivers may be leading to fewer crashes, but the total number of chases remains close to an all-time high.
Half-year statistics released this month by police suggest the number of pursuits taking place is similar to last year, while the number abandoned has increased and the number of crashes has dropped by about 10 per cent.
Fleeing driver incidents have been in the spotlight in recent years, with their number increasing by 64 per cent between 2013 and 2017, going from 2308 chases in a year up to 3796.
Police adopted a more cautious approach to chases two years ago, including leaving the decision to continue or abandon a chase in the hands of a pursuit controller at the station rather than the officer driving.
The chase forced a police officer to run for his life as the car swerved to the wrong side of the road
The statistics detail the number of incidents, abandonments and crashes in the first six months of 2018 to June 30.
Incidents are steady, with 1892 chases recorded. If they continue at that rate, the 2018 total will be 3784 - just 12 fewer than last year.
Abandonments are up about six per cent, with 1119 chases called off up to June 30. That makes the end-of-year projection about 2238, compared with last year's 2105.
The number of crashes in relation to chases has fallen by about 10 per cent. There were 283 in the first half of this year, giving a projected total of 566 for the year - considerably down from 2017's total of 626.
The numbers suggest police will abandon almost 60 per cent of chases this year for safety reasons, up from about 55 per cent last year.
There were 12 deaths last year that involved police pursuits, and there have already been eight deaths in the first half of 2018.
Superintendent Steve Greally, the national road policing manager, said police use robust processes to assess the risks posed by chasing a fleeing driver.
"The decision whether to start, continue or abandon a pursuit of a fleeing driver is based on police’s risk assessment tool, TENR (Threat-Exposure-Necessity-Response)," he said.
"Police will abandon a pursuit if the risk is assessed as too dangerous ... This is continually reassessed throughout the incident."
Mr Greally said the fact that more people have chosen to flee from police over the past few years is disappointing.
Three people were taken to hospital after the crash, which happened after an hour-long chase.
"The one thing we want everybody to understand is if they're signalled by police to stop, they should pull over and stop ... It is not worth putting your life, your passenger's life or anyone else's life at risk.
"Whatever it is that you think you will get in trouble for that is making you decide to flee from police, we can always talk about it."
Police's pursuit policy is currently being reviewed by the Independent Police Conduct Authority for the seventh time in the past 20 years.
A report is expected before the end of the year.
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