Why is it then I don’t remember stories like this when I was 18? I don’t remember kids I knew flipping out and running from police. Sure they got pulled over but they never turned it into an OJ parade.
I’ve been at a couple parties where please recalled and people ran out the door and all over the place escaping them. These were high school parties so unless you were a hermit, this has been done for generations.
Because at your age, all news such as this was local, and you certainly didn't have computers or the internet.
Was the internet around when you were 18?
Back then, the stories from distant places were just those considered to be of national importance, local crimes didn’t get reported as state, national or world news. You would see it in your town’s paper and maybe a countywide news report, but that’s it. Even local murders didn’t make national news like they do today.
But these days, the activities of teenagers in some backwater can and do get reported if they do something that fits usefully into some big global or national agenda like “defund the police,” “lgbtq issues,” “anti-ice” or whatnot, ir if the story bleeds, it leads regardless, because of the massive appetite for rage content.
That said, you are right in that it would be exceedingly rare for a teen in 1950 or 1960 to ignore a cop even if they were fortunate enough to be driving a car. Speaking of which , there were not that many teens driving cars decades ago as now, which may also be why this ignoring or running from traffic cops was unheard of.
And if this was an autism case, for example -autistic, or overanxious unresponsive kids then would probably be in a mental facility of some kind or in special ed and not allowed to drive around or do much unsupervised.
A spoiled brat of a high school principal or local politician might do something stupid like drive away, but back then, there hadn’t yet been massive riots of people with their own teams of lawyers, and bail already arranged, and elected officials joining in calls to demand the defunding of police.
This generation is definitely peculiar, but so is our media’s news coverage.
Agreed, was lit up by police when I was 17 for speeding. Pulled over, was respectful, and was given a warning🤔. I am 63
To say there is no difference in regards to police seems odd
I don’t remember police behaving this way either.
I was in a number of those fleeing cars. I do remember.
We also did not have the aggressive militarized police we have now. A traffic stop now is multiple squads, tactical gear, and pointed guns. In my day it was probably my friend Bobs dad.
They fired this officer but I bet he still has his credentials.
“Why is it then I don’t remember stories like this when I was 18? “
Scads of reasons. Physical, mental, cultural.
Physical. I have two cars that I might have been able to own when I was 18. One is a ‘48 Plymouth flat six. The other is a ‘52 Pontiac straight eight. It would be insane to run from a cop in either car. He could run alongside for the fifty feet. But kids today have cars with unbelievable horsepower. It probably makes them feel invulnerable. “Why should I stop for this guy when I can hit 130 miles per hour.”
Mental. It’s my impression that a couple of decades ago adult thinking occurred at an earlier age. There’s something about the way kids are raised today. When they get out of the school bus all traffic stops for them. Decades ago, a kid was required to look out for his own safety. Near FSU I regularly see kids jaywalk across a four-lane busy street without ever looking up from their phones. Traffic stops for them...mostly. Occasionally, it doesn’t. The point is that they don’t look out for themselves as an adult would look out for his own safety.
Cultural. Oh, gosh...where to start? Everything is arranged in a kid’s life to support his fragile ego. Nobody keeps score. Games like dodgeball are outlawed. Certain words are banned from use so as not to hurt their feelings. The examples are endless. This all combines to prevent a kid from developing skills to handle the real world.
I’ve chosen just a handful of examples. I’ll bet Freepers could produce the longest article response in FR history on this topic.
Check out the hiring practices for your local constabulary.
They don’t make cops like they used to because for very good reason.
There was an entire
TV show and several movies predicated on the idea of outrunning the sheriff.
Dukes of Hazard, Smokey and the Bandit ring a bell.
That happened to me in 1976.
I was 18, in my last semester of high school. I had worked very late, past my shift time, and was coming home around 1:00 am on a Tuesday. I did see a state police car in an empty parking lot but thought nothing of it. I wasn’t speeding or driving sketchy.
Anyway, he followed me. I turned up my road, and right before I reach my house, he flips his lights on. So I pulled over along the side of the road across from my driveway.
He comes up to the window and asks me what I was doing out so late!
I told him I was at work. So he wants to know all the details and starts grilling me.
Meanwhile, my stepfather has come out and is listening to all this. He then shouts, “Hey, he was working late! AB, just pull up in the GD driveway and go to bed!”
So the cop goes back to his car, shuts of his lights, and drives off. I pull into the driveway while my Dad shakes his head and mutters about stupid cops.
Neither of us were shot that night, though. Which was good.
I know of one incident in the 1980s where a teenage male set off a bomb in response to police pulling him over to harass him constantly.
It was rare, but not unknown. Also, the kid could have had earbuds in and didn’t hear a siren. It’s easy to not look in the rearview for a time.