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What did I just see? A car chase?

(22 posts)

Started 1 year ago by beedrop
Latest reply from iPlod

beedrop

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About an hour ago, on Leary just east of 15th. A green car and a maroon prius came absolutely flying out of a parking lot, w/o even looking for traffic and skidded to a stop just before hitting us as we were stopped in the westbound lanes. The guy in the green car frantically backed up and took off eastbound on Leary with squealing tires, and the prius took off after him, laying on the horn the whole time. They were weaving in and out of the sparse traffic on Leary before I lost sight of them. I figure if they didn't end up causing an accident, I probably wouldn't ever find out what was going on. Anyone else see these two yahoos?

Posted 1 year ago #
teigyr

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Wow. Not to downplay it all because it sounds pretty scary but part of me is impressed that a Prius driver actually exceeded the speed limit. I wonder what was up?

Posted 1 year ago #
Area Man

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the Prius was giving chase? Sorry, I was very close by there and then, but saw none of this. Wish I had.

Posted 1 year ago #
beedrop

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Yup, the prius driver was definitely the one giving chase. He looked angry, the other guy looked scared.

Posted 1 year ago #
Ballard Giant

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The guy in the green car probably put a recyclable can in the garbage and pissed off the Prius owner. I've seen it a thousand times...

Posted 1 year ago #
SmartsyArtsy

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Ballard giant very funny!

Posted 1 year ago #
iPlod

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The green car is an experimental vehicle designed by an environmentally focused institute I won't name, to run on sound waves generated by traffic noise.

When it's stopped at an intersection, and there is diminished noise, it depends on a polite toot of the horn from the vehicle behind it to get going, so the maroon car always follows on these test runs to make sure there is no stalling.

In this case, apparently the maroon Prius's horn got stuck and caused a power surge resulting in an uncontrollable acceleration of the green car, which is a serious glitch in need of immediate attention IMHO. That's why it looked like a chase.

Don't worry about the green car driver. I'm sure he was able to keep everything under control, because this institute hires only the very best test drivers from the exclusive Largo Clown College in Florida.

Posted 1 year ago #
SPG

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Was it Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg in the Prius?

Posted 1 year ago #
Odin

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"........Prius came absolutely flying out of a parking lot.."

Laugh of the day!

Posted 1 year ago #
lifeisamazing

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Iplod - very clever :)

Posted 1 year ago #
Alferd Packer

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It was just Google testing out their self-driving cars .... they were trying to program the "road rage" feature which is so in demand by Americans. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html

Posted 1 year ago #
earthwulf

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In a daylight smash'n grab, two to three cars were hit yesterday evening. Around 6 PM on Thursday 6/9, right outside of Mike's Chili and the Ballard Blocks, a 25-30 year old hispanic male was seen smashing the windows of parked cars. The witness, a young SPU student, stated that she rounded the corner and witnessed the man breaking into her car.

She yelled, shouting for him to stop, but the man reached into her car, grabbing her backpack. He then jumped into his vehicle, which she described as a late 80's model Honda Accord, green-blue in color. At that point, she managed to get a hand on her backpack, but the theuif would not leet go, gunning his engine, dragging her a few feet before she was forced to release her bag. She continued shouting as the car sped off, veering right, around a red Prius in front of Mike's Chili.

The man driving the Prius heard the screams of "stop that car" and he gave chase to the other vehicle. He followd him through the Mars Hill Church parking lot, and both vehicles then made a right. After 10 minutes of maneuvering through the Ballard/Greenwood streets, the Prius lost the Accord when another driver pulled out of the driveway, blocking the street. During the chase, the driver of the Prius had his horn blaring the entire time, yelling out of his window for pedestrians and bicyclists to call 911, but was apparently ignored.

Police responded to the scene about twenty minutes after the incident; possible evidece was colleced and witness statements were taken.

Edit: I was the prius driver...

Posted 1 year ago #
great idea

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while I laud your intentions, I don't think the seriousness of this crime merited chasing the guy around town endangering others. a license plate would've been sufficient to report to spd.

was the car pulling out thwarting the chase a civic?

Posted 1 year ago #
earthwulf

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I agree... the only reason why I chased is that I made the assumption (I know I know) that it was an assault and/or hit and run. I saw someone running up to the screaming woman & my instinct to stop the guy kick in.

I don't remember which car pulled out; I gave the police all the info I had.

Posted 1 year ago #
great idea

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easy mistake to make given the victim's response. again--Kudos for your quick action to help someone!

hopefully the police actually caught the bad guy. I gave them a vehicle description and license number of a burglar on my street a few years ago and don't know if they ever pursued him.

Posted 1 year ago #
iPlod

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Did you get his license plate number?

Posted 1 year ago #
earthwulf

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Partial - I was really focused on driving; I didn't want to cause even greater damage.

Posted 1 year ago #
Question

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Thank you, earthwulf, for trying to make the world a better place. I'm glad you escaped unscathed.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cate

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earthwulf - just how fast did you get your Prius up to?

Posted 1 year ago #
iPlod

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Don't know if popular opinion pegs Prius as sluggish or not, Cate.

I took a 2010 model on a test drive last year and tromped on the pedal as I entered I-5 like I'm used to doing with my truck. Before I knew it, we were doing 75+. What a surprise!

Those stodgy looking little crates can really move if you need them to.

Or was your question meant to lead into the safety issue?

Posted 1 year ago #
Cate

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Strictly curiosity as to how fast they could go. Before my son totaled it (on my birthday) I had a Honda Civic Hybrid that he reported to me could go up to 80 (having told me that I lent it to him again - I really should have known better). Wanted to know if they were comparable.

Posted 1 year ago #
iPlod

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Doh! Those pesky sons!

I don't know what limit that Prius had because the speedo was a digital display (Not red). I only noticed I was speeding when the nervous salesman mentioned it. I was concentrating on merging while using the same foot pressure as in my truck. ZOOM!

Posted 1 year ago #