Police pursuits have led to at least eight deaths around the United States in less than a week, according to the Associated Press, highlighting the danger that high-speed chases can pose to more than just suspects. The fatalities are occurring as some policing experts continue to call for curbs on risky pursuit tactics.

The Associated Press said the cases include a crash in Alabama in which a car pursued by a state trooper went off a road and hit a tree late Friday night. In Texas, a pursuit involving a car being driven without headlights on Interstate 35 ended with a collision involving multiple vehicles. In southern California, separate incidents involving officers pursuing fleeing suspects ended with fatal crashes and additional serious injuries.

In Alabama, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the crash occurred on a rural road in southeast Alabama’s Pike County while the driver was trying to elude the agency’s highway patrol, spokeswoman Amanda Wasden said in an email Sunday. Wasden said no other vehicles were involved.

Wasden said the driver and two passengers, including one 17-year-old, were not wearing seat belts and were thrown from the sedan. A third passenger was not ejected, and Wasden said all four were pronounced dead at the scene. She said the crash was under investigation and that no additional information was available, and her email did not specify what prompted the pursuit.

In Fort Worth, Texas, the Associated Press reported that police pursued a car that had been driving without headlights on Interstate 35. The Fort Worth Police Department said the vehicle struck multiple other vehicles and eventually crashed, killing the driver.

In southern California, the Associated Press reported that the Pomona Police Department said its officers were pursuing a fleeing domestic violence suspect when the suspect’s car hit another vehicle. The Pomona department said that crash killed the couple inside, and KCBS-TV reported that the couple were days away from the birth of their child.

The Associated Press also described a separate incident in Orange County in which the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said deputies attempted to stop a stolen U-Haul truck. The sheriff’s department said the truck slammed into an SUV, killing the SUV’s driver and critically injuring her three passengers, the Associated Press reported.

The deadly incidents are among the hundreds of fatalities that occur during police chases each year, the Associated Press said. In 2023, the Police Executive Research Forum—described as a national think tank on policing standards—called for police to put the brakes on car chases unless a violent crime has been committed and the suspect poses an imminent threat. The report noted a spike in fatalities and an increase in pursuits by some departments, including in Houston and New York City.

The Associated Press did not provide details on how many of the deaths in the week’s incidents involved police cruisers versus the pursuing vehicle, but the cases described by local agencies and reporting point to recurring questions about whether the public risk from high-speed chases can outweigh the potential benefits of apprehension.