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Youtube made me watch a video on police spike strips. I had always thought they were long enough to cross the entire road but some of them are probably only about 10 feet long. The officers have to be on the side of the road and try to throw them out when the car is coming super fast.
Gee whiz! I had no idea these cops were that close to getting ran over. Crazy. It gives me a better appreciation for what they do.
But can't we invest in longer spike strips so that they can put it across the entire road instead of trying to hit a moving target? 
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They have to fit in the police car together with everything else they always have to bring just in case.
Last time I saw the trunk of a police car it was full. In a very orderly way.
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Jörgen Andersson wrote: They have to fit in the police car together with everything else they always have to bring just in case.
Your thinking that every police officer is always carrying them? Could be. I don't know. I would think not because they don't get used often but I'm no cop.
Jörgen Andersson wrote: Last time I saw the trunk of a police car it was full.
Next time, don't mouth off to the cop. 
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I don't know if every police has the same equipment always in the car, but I think such things are like condomes or the umbrella,
better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them 
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But when they need them they won't have time to go to the station and pick one up, or the car(s) that has one might be on the other side of the county.
I'm actually pretty convinced it's standard equipment.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Never stop dreaming - Freddie Kruger
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Also it only needs to cover the side of the road they want to cover. If it went all the way across they would be in danger of damaging an innocent car going the other way.
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� Forogar � wrote: an innocent car going the other way.
Most of the time they have the road shut down.
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In the UK, that's not true - they generally don't have time to shut a road they have to anticipate whet route the perp will take, and hurry to get to a "choke point" where they can hide and deploy before the bandit arrives - and then get it out of the way of the police cars that are following close behind.
Here they use a "scissor action" device called STINGER 2000 Series[^] - it packs up small and will cover both lanes of a single carriageway road.
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OriginalGriff wrote: they generally don't have time to shut a road t
That's probably true in the US too. I said "most" but I have no idea. 
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Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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On a similar topic back in 2018, the police in the UK were given approval to use their cars to knock people off bikes or mopeds if they were pursuing them.
I don't know if they still practice this.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
modified 23-Oct-20 14:25pm.
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GuyThiebaut wrote: to use their cars to knock people of bikes or mopeds
Well, if they can't carry guns they need some way to take them down. 
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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ZurdoDev wrote: Well, if they can't carry guns they need some way to take them down.
You clearly haven't met some of our police forces. While it is rumoured that there are honest cops in the Met, they do keep their heads down and shut up to prevent their fellow officers finding out ...
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"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
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If they defund police they'll only be able to afford the width of a standard tire.
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I chuckled, and then, I chuckled some more.
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You have to be able to throw them out quick, and then rope them in quick. If it's a pursuit, you only want to take out the target, not what's coming before or behind.
Yes, when they're doing 80 - 90 MPH, they're coming at you "really fast". And at night. With maybe no lights. Happened locally. I think the driver was a minor.
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I remember a vacation in Kenya, about 15 years ago.
They'd often close one side of the road for whatever reason, and did so with a spike strip.
Those spikes were so friggin' huge that if you actually hit them they'd total your car and if the car was small they'd impale the driver as well.
If the spikes didn't get you, the police with automatics would.
No half measures there
Except the roads, those were so bad our driver (and many before him) often preferred the often smoother soil besides the road 
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ZurdoDev wrote: But can't we invest in longer spike strips so that they can put it across the entire road instead of trying to hit a moving target?
I suspect it could be a matter of weight. How heavy are those thing anyway? If they cover half the road, then double the weight for double the length. How quickly can someone throw these things across a road if suddenly you have a set that weights double what they already do?
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I'm referring to when they've had the chance to close down a road ahead of time and don't need to throw at the last moment.
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Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Ok...but I don't imagine they get to be that choosy.
"Here's the short strips for when you're in a hurry, and here's the other longer ones at the bottom of the trunk, for those times when we've already closed down the road. You'll want Frank's help with those, they're rather heavy"
So, they carry a single set, which can accommodate both scenarios.
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Possibly. But then if all officers have them why don't they ever put 2 officers out, one on each side of the road?
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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I would imagine they take up quite a bit of room. Trunk space on a police cruiser is at a premium (it's absolutely an important bullet-point of the selection-making process when they replace their fleet); I doubt there's enough space left in the average trunk to add a second one.
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dandy72 wrote: to add a second one.
No, I'm pointing out that there is usually more than one officer at the point of spikes so if each car has one, why not get 2 out?
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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That would be the more viable option.
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