what are the odds of someone escaping the police in a car chase?

i remember seeing a car chase on cnn headline news or msnbc where they were following a silver sedan and lost it on the highway for about 20 mins because there were similar makes out there, but i do think they got the license plate, if they didnt could someone get away like that? especially if they planned it out to have decoys around that area at the predetermined time? of course thats not too realistic considering most police chases tend to happen after an unintentional hit and run but what do you think how often do people get away,

they also mentioned people on motorcycles have a better shot because of the manueverability and of course the size, but not too many hit and runs with motorcycles i guess
i think the news channels are really stupid to first of all show the chases, for a number of reasons, and then on top of that to give out tips to possible escapees, and what not,
considering the increased number of bank robberies were seeing in the US and the panicked decision making that comes into play after you strike someone with your vehicle, sometimes vehicular manslaughter can be a heavy price to pay
colt - i was more interested in writing some fiction about it

and matt - man the helicopter was the one that lost the silver sedan, it was pathetic, the guy was following the wrong car for awhile, i was almost awestruck at their incompetance, but then again considering the recent chopper crash, i guess he didnt do so bad

Answer
In most cases my department does not chase a person who fled from a traffic stop, hit and run suspects, and absolutely not on a motorcycle unless a violent felony occurred. Half the time we won't chase stolen cars either because it is considered stolen property in the eyes of the state. We do chase for violent felonies, and if an officer was injured during the incident. Usually we just get the tag, do a report, and seize the tag later. And if we know who the driver is we do a complaint affidavit to have a warrant put out for the subjects arrest. Helicopter operators have a harder time keeping up with a vehicle around increased traffic. Lots of cars, and they have to go by size and color to figure out which car they are going to be following. They have cameras they can zoom in on the subject with but that can be difficult.

Did anybody watch a car chase in LA on yesterday's news?

Q. Do you remember what kind of car it was they were chasing? What model I mean? I'm just curious because they kept commenting on how well it was doing in spite of driving over spikes and assorted other damage, and it really looked like it was handling well, all things considered. (Not that I'm an expert on such things.)

Answer
I believe it was a Nissan Maxima.

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