It's hard to believe that police chases are still a thing, but YouTube is awash in footage of people trying to outrun the cops. More than a few of these chases end in fiery crashes and, in some unfortunate instances, innocent bystanders being injured.
An Arizona-based inventor named Leonard Stock witnessed one such incident: "The conclusion of one of the chases [I saw on TV] was an innocent motorist getting t-boned and I went to sleep that night just so aggravated that this was happening," he told a local news organization. "And I woke up at 3:00 in the morning just suddenly and this was the first thought I had."
That first thought was the Grappler Police Bumper, which Stock both invented and is now selling:
It does look a darn sight safer than trying to perform that "pit" maneuver.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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A Police Vehicle Add-On That Safely Ends Car Chases
Wait, why is hard to believe that "police chases are still a thing" ?
This is really nice information. Thanks for sharing such type of information.
Curious as to how it performs with a front / AWD vehicle.
Check the video, 0:41-0:45. Though the front wheels are getting power, there's still a locked rear wheel and a couple (or few) tons of police cruiser to serve as an effective anchor.
Cool. Good catch.
Yes but notice the video did not show the FWD car actually coming to a stop. How far could that tug-of-war drag on? Also when the rear wheels are locked, the driver loses substantial directional control, and could slide into other lanes, pedestrians, oncoming traffic, or even flip over. Instead of a snare, that arm should have a GPS tracker with a blob of instant-set adhesive to latch onto the fender, trunk, bumper, etc. then just sit back and wait.