Before anyone says "OMGsh another Doug senario. Whatchu gonna be doin' shootin' at tires anyway?!! What are the odds that you're going to be able to shoot at a car. If it is chasing you you can't shoot at the tires from your car very well, it is running from you then you then they are fleeing from you." I UNDERSTAND ALL THAT!!!
This is more a tactic and training question that relates more often to LEOs than civilians.
I just happen to be watching the movie First Blood on AMC and saw a scene in which a state police car is chasing Rambo in an army truck. THe car is trying to run the truck off the road
while trying to shoot him in the drivers seat of the truck. WHY NOT SHOOT OUT THE TIRES!!!
Okay, that is a just a movie, a fairly ridiculous movie at that (the national guardsmen in this movie are like something out of police squad...genuine mall ninjas)
BUT, I remember in one of MANY police chase film reels shown on FOX news over the years in which this 18 wheeler is running from police all over some city (think it was LA) nearly killing people and destroying property. At one point one of the policeman gets a chance to run up to the truck cab while it has slowed down and gets a chance to run along side of it as it is making a wide turn and fire his gun at the cab. WHY NOT SHOOT OUT THE TIRES YOU"RE RIGHT NEXT TO THEM? The truck is stopped and you can shoot or arrest the madman.
I do remember seeing an episode of the X files in which Mulder and a sheriff try this on a camper driving in circles.....with each of them having no success saying "shooting the tires out from under a moving vehicle is a lot harder than it seems." BUT, that is just TV.
YES, it is possible that if done the vehicle could go out of control and crash into something...but what do you think is going to happen if you hit the driver and stop or kill him!