General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Capitol Incident: "They didn't have to shoot her." [View all]krispos42
(49,445 posts)Watch "World's Wildest Police Chases" and see what happens when you have a determined driver behind the wheel. Four flats doesn't stop them, blown radiators, entire wheels flying off, ruined suspensions, overheating engines, and severe body damage will not quickly stop a car, and this is a critical point when you're in a city full of pedestrians. Hell, I've seen fleeing cars catch fire, and the driver keeps on going.
Bullets would need to hit something critical, like the engine management computer or the ignition pack or the fuel pump, to bring the car to an abrupt halt. And how do you shoot those things?
And the methods required to bring somebody to a full stop are inherently violent and not particularly controllable. Barricades, PIT maneuvers, and running the car off into a building all have varying degrees of risk to the police and bystanders, as well as to the passengers of the car.
The human driver, though, is soft and squishy, and vulnerable to bullets.
We tend to see damage in terms of cosmetics or costs of repair. We have to understand that the driver doesn't give a flying shit about cosmetics or repairs or depreciation or how many more tens of thousands of miles the car will list. A deranged driver only cares about the next few seconds or few minutes. A car is perfectly drivable on rims, or with the suspension collapsed, or bullet holes in the sheet metal.
Think "Jason Bourne", or perhaps "Grand Theft Auto". The car is disposable, and a replacement in America is only yards away.