Stop Sticks

[7shooter]

Tonight there was a pursuit of a driver going 86 in a 55. They placed stop sticks under an overpass and the driver drove over them. Do you think all four tires would have been blown.

 

[326MOD10]

Possible but no guarantee.

I have deployed them a few times and had good hits but still not flattened all 4 tires.

I myself drove over a pair going about 60 [SIDEBAR-the person who put them out failed to say they were out and I got written up for "following to close". My venting FOP grievance form mentioned something about "Of course I was following to close, I was trying to catch the bad guy. Maybe you have all forgotten that is what we are supposed to do." Which I then dropped because it contained a bunch of other reference to our new chase policy and figured the chances of it happening again within 2 years would be slim.] and it only flattened 3 of the 4 tires. And I hit them full on.


I got a slow moving car once and it only got 2 of the 4.

Got my Supervisor one night as I threw them at a car and it bounced off the door frame and missed the bad guy (another classic story as he wondered why I was out in the middle of the street trying to flag him down as he went by) and it only got 3 of his brand new tires on his brand new car.

And the others that I hit only flattened some of the tires and not all. I think I had 4 or 5 stop stick pins (you are given them by the company when you successfully use them) not counting the police cars and not sure I ever had all 4 tires go down.

I do recall one chase with a suicidal armed gentleman that drove around the same block where the officer tossed the sticks out and then jumped in his car to follow the Sugar Land Express without picking them up. The chase then went round and round eventually flattening all four tires of the gentleman in the car and about 4 police cars.

This answer has been a trip down memory lane!

 

[7shooter]

Possible but no guarantee.

I have deployed them a few times and had good hits but still not flattened all 4 tires.

I myself drove over a pair going about 60 [SIDEBAR-the person who put them out failed to say they were out and I got written up for "following to close". My venting FOP grievance form mentioned something about "Of course I was following to close, I was trying to catch the bad guy. Maybe you have all forgotten that is what we are supposed to do." Which I then dropped because it contained a bunch of other reference to our new chase policy and figured the chances of it happening again within 2 years would be slim.] and it only flattened 3 of the 4 tires. And I hit them full on.


I got a slow moving car once and it only got 2 of the 4.

Got my Supervisor one night as I threw them at a car and it bounced off the door frame and missed the bad guy (another classic story as he wondered why I was out in the middle of the street trying to flag him down as he went by) and it only got 3 of his brand new tires on his brand new car.

And the others that I hit only flattened some of the tires and not all. I think I had 4 or 5 stop stick pins (you are given them by the company when you successfully use them) not counting the police cars and not sure I ever had all 4 tires go down.

I do recall one chase with a suicidal armed gentleman that drove around the same block where the officer tossed the sticks out and then jumped in his car to follow the Sugar Land Express without picking them up. The chase then went round and round eventually flattening all four tires of the gentleman in the car and about 4 police cars.

This answer has been a trip down memory lane!

Very interesting. Thanks.

 

[NYlakesider]

Interesting subject, I have a question. I have owned 4 vehicles with "Run Flat Tires" They are built to have stronger narrow sidewalls, and the info with them says they can run empty for up to 50 miles that way. Systen is designed to get you home or to a garage if you have a tire go down as no spares, jacks or tire tools are in the car. I know people that have put on much more that the 50 miles.

Question, the stop stick/s will not work, what happens next!

 

[Tubbsy]

Thats just one of 3 types of "run flats" if i'm remembering correctly. My days as a tire man are years behind me, but I do also remember encountering run flats on a BMW that had a gel like substance on the inside that was supposed to seal any small punctures.... not sure how well those worked, tires also said something along the lines of not servicing them anywhere but a BMW dealer.

 

[326MOD10]

Stopstick is a name brand item and that is what we used. Some agencies use a spike strip device and I do not know how they work.

The ones we used actually inserted and left a tube in the tire that allowed for the slow release of air. So to be effective you would have to hit them right to get the tube to insert and stay. Thus controlling the tire deflation in a safe manner.

That is why they don't always work because as you run over them they move, bounce, etc... and may not insert properly.

I don't know much about run flat tires but it would eventually defeat them I would think.

If you google how Stop Sticks work they have a demo video. I couldn't get it to attach.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Tyler Hoover, Hoovies Garage, The Dumbest Car Show on YouTube,
Bought a Rolls with limited production Michelin Run Flat Tires.
The wheels were not useable with regular tires and he had to buy new wheels in order to mount new tires.

 

[Rodan]

Stopstick is a name brand item and that is what we used. Some agencies use a spike strip device and I do not know how they work.

The ones we used actually inserted and left a tube in the tire that allowed for the slow release of air. So to be effective you would have to hit them right to get the tube to insert and stay. Thus controlling the tire deflation in a safe manner.

That is why they don't always work because as you run over them they move, bounce, etc... and may not insert properly.

This is correct, with respect to Stop Stick brand. It doesn't always get all the tires because the little sharpened tubes are designed to pull out of the device and if the next tire rolls over the same spot, they're not there any more.

I don't particularly care for tire deflation devices because they are EXTREMELY dangerous to deploy. There are around 40 cops on the ODMP.org page that were killed while deploying tire deflation devices.

And while they sometimes reduce the offender's speed, they rarely stop the pursuit. They just keep driving 'till the tires disintegrate.

'Run-flat' tires would be able to continue for a while, but they would eventually disintigrate as well, being designed only to continue at low speeds and low lateral loads to get you to safety.

 

[tndrfttom]

I believe it was in 2007 that two Palm Beach County Florida Sheriffs deputies were killed trying to retrieve “stop sticks” from a dark rural road. The incident originated with a stolen car that was being followed by a K9 Deputy. Two other Deputies that were further ahead placed a ‘stop stick’ device across the road and were successful in puncturing some of the tires on the stolen vehicle. Rather than staying on the shoulder of the road to pull off the stick the 2 Deputies were working on the pavement trying to remove the ‘stop stick’ and were struck and killed by the following K9 vehicle which, in turn, went out of control. (That deputy was seriously injured and the totaled vehicle came to rest in a road-side ditch).

The driver of the stolen vehicle was captured and initially charged with grand theft, fleeing and eluding causing death, and two counts of aggravated manslaughter of a law enforcement officer by culpable negligence. After a review of the facts by the assistant states attorney the charges were reduced to grand theft, fleeing law enforcement, driving without a license and resisting an officer without violence.

.... Just a terrible set of circumstances leading to deaths of two fine Deputies.

 

[Faulkner]

I have deployed stop sticks a dozen times or so and I don't recall every getting all four tires.

 

[biku324]

Desperate people often drive many miles and at high speed on flat tires and even tireless rims IF the spike strips or stop sticks work. Or kill deploying officers while driving around the strips.

RIP, NMSP Officer LLOYD R. ARAGON, SR.

Patrolman Lloyd Aragon was struck by a suspect's vehicle and killed while laying stop sticks on I-40 at the eastbound exit to Route 6 between Grants and Albuquerque, New Mexico.