She described Meadow as a young girl who "had so much potential in her life" and was "too young to go".
There were concerns that more young people were getting involved with reckless activities like getting in stolen cars and trying to evade police, she said.
"They are worried about being cool. It sorta is like that with young children, they are trying to fit in."
Meadow was a "normal teenager" who was into socialising.
"The last time I seen her and she was happy and wanted to be with friends and family."
Friends and relatives have shared their grief in emotional tributes posted on social media.
Meadows' distraught mother, Rachel James, told 1 News she was still stunned. Meadow's brother Leif was also killed in a stolen blue Subaru during a police pursuit in Australia five years ago.
"It's the second time. I've already lost a child."
Fighting back tears, James said she thought her daughter had gone to her course and it was only when she returned home from work she found out Meadow had got in the car with Ihaia.
"I play back what I could have changed. I could have done better, but it's happened and I can't do anything.
"There is nothing we can do to change it. I don't blame anyone. I don't blame the family of the boy who was driving. It's just, you know, they never wanted for their son to die either. It's just one of those things that has happened and now we have to accept it."
Rebecca James said her sister was already beating herself up and did not need the negative comments the family had been receiving on social media about the crash.
"As a parent ... someone who has lost a child [who's] saying she could have done better, she is beating herself up already."
District commander Superintendent Sue Schwalger said yesterday an officer saw the wanted Subaru being driven on Monrad St about 1.30pm, and signalled it to stop.
"The Subaru continued driving, travelling on to Pioneer Highway and crashed into a ditch, hitting a power pole at the intersection of Shirriffs Rd."
The tragedy comes less than five years after Meadow's brother, Leif James, died in hauntingly similar circumstances.