Law enforcement use nail strips, also known as stinger sticks or Stop Sticks®, to safely and quickly stop a perpetrator during a high-speed chase. The nearly three-inch hollow spikes impale themselves in the tires, causing them to slowly deflate and reducing the risk of human injury. Spike strips can also be used for traffic control and one-way traffic areas. They are typically attached to a lightweight strip of material and easily removed after use.
There are few things law enforcement doesn’t like more than a high-speed chase. They realize the dangers inherent in innocent bystanders, objects of pursuit, and themselves. Therefore, they look for the quickest and safest method available to disable and stop a perpetrator on the run.
In most cases, the method of choice is commonly known as nail strip. Also known as stinger sticks or Stop Sticks®, the device is a strip of sharp spikes, set horizontally across a highway, designed to deflate all four tires of a speeding vehicle. Spike strips are highly effective and have been found to cause as little harm to both people and property as possible.
Usually the nearly three-inch (7.5 cm) tips are hollow, rather than solid. They are made in such a way as to avoid serious accidents. If the spikes were made of steel or some other solid material, they would pop the tires. At high speeds, multiple tire blowouts would almost certainly lead to a crash, with a good chance of serious injury or death.
Hollow tips, on the other hand, tend to impale themselves in the tires and cause them to slowly deflate. The chase may take slightly longer, as a vehicle will be able to travel a short distance before its tires are completely flat. However, hollow points greatly reduce the chances of human injury.
Spiked strips have other uses than quickly stopping a vehicle during a high-speed chase. They can also be used as a traffic control method. Some pointed strips are designed with zippers. A vehicle can drive over them in one direction without damaging the tires and the spikes will simply bend. However, the vehicle is unable to roll back, as the spikes have returned to their normal angle. If you try to do this, your tires will puncture and go flat.
One-way spike strips have been used in areas where one-way traffic is mandated. Sometimes they will be seen in parking lots or buildings that require some degree of frontline security. In years past, a variant of the spiked strip, known as pedals, was occasionally located at the entrance and exit of drive-in movie theaters.
However, by far the most frequent use of the spike strip occurs during high-speed pursuit. Typically, the spikes are attached to a flat, lightweight strip of material, such as nylon. At one end is a long cord. After a vehicle hits the runway, the law enforcement officer simply pulls the stripe off the highway, preventing unintentional damage to other vehicles.
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