Tagging Devices To Aid In Car Chases

kthejoker writes "ABC News is reporting that a company called StarChase has invented a device that will allow police teams to 'tag' cars involved in dangerous chases. The device is the size of a golf ball, can be launched via an air-powered shooter attached to police vehicles, and uses a "highly efficient" glue to stick to cars. From there, it transmits its GPS position to a central monitoring station."

Re:'high-speed pursuits' my backside

[FinestLittleSpace]

Can you lay a spike strip from behind a car?

Re:Ok...

[Orangejesus]

in a lot of cities there are ordinances that the cops can't chase motorists under various conditions, like over 20mph over the speed limit. It's pretty common actually, the idea being that in high speed chases even more people get injured.

Re:Wicked Idea

[Arvoshift]

Okay, I think you have the wrong idea about how cars actually work. Vacuum assist is via manifold pressure - you have about 4 more "pumps" of the pedal before it all goes and if you leave the car in gear, you still have some manifold pressure. In an emergency braking situation, you should be down-shifting and braking at the same time, it eliminates the inertia of the drivetrain (if you really want to get into it, look into pascall's theory). Power Steering is a belt driven hydraulic pump, it will still work if you move your engine into a lower gear when it cuts out although it is far less effective. As for engine cut out, I had a holden genini in full race trim, if you have ever experienced points bounce, you'd know how uncontrollable a car can become when you miss with 12.5:1 compression. As for Automatic transmissions, most are electrically powered hydraulic, I know the EL falcons didn't like high tension power lines, they would downshift on the freeway and get confused from the RFI. I am a qualifed engine rebuilder, Mechanic and Panelbeater studying Mechanical Engineering. I know what I am talking about. That's not to say you don't, I just make it a policy to never assume that others have overlooked something so simple as this.

Re:Wicked Idea

[alienw]

How about you learn how cars actually work before you start spewing bullshit? There is no "vaccuum pump" in a car, the vaccuum is provided by the engine. Just in case you don't know, engines have available vaccuum only when you let go of the throttle. The brake booster stores vaccuum so your brakes don't cut out when you accelerate. Killing the engine will not immediately kill power brakes, there will be plenty of power to stop. Power steering will die, but it doesn't take much power to steer a moving car.

Canadian RCMP do not chase motorcycles

[Anonymous Coward]

If you really want to get away from the cops, buy a motorcycle.

RCMP in Canada will not chase speeding motorcyles; the chase with an untrained driver is likely to end up in death, and they're not going to be able to keep up. A speeding ticket isn't worth a death sentence for the driver of the motorcycle.

Makes me wonder what they do in the US.

For what it's worth; it is a myth that police cars are fast. The interceptors are only fast on freeways, where you are unlikely to gain the speed differential needed to escape. They're very heavy. If you are in a sports car with performance tires, and know something about driving, you can outrun a police car very easily on a secondary road. The only question is if they can radio ahead to have someone block the road. Most areas do not have enough police coverage to do this.