'Mobile Spike Strips' Could Enhance Safety For Washington State Patrol

The Washington State Patrol is testing a new kind of spike strip that could make it a lot safer for troopers who need to disable fleeing vehicles.

The state patrol has installed "mobile spike units" on four of its vehicles. The spike strip is controlled by a button in the vehicle's dashboard. Once the button is pushed, the spike strip springs out horizontally from the front bumper.

"It's safe for the officers, it's safe for the motoring public, it's safe for the people that are pursuing behind me," WSP Trooper James Arnold said.

Arnold drives one of the four vehicles that has mobile spike strips installed.

The spike strips troopers use now -- all troopers have them -- require a trooper to throw the strip out in front of a speeding car, and then tug on a string to straighten the strip out. If used correctly, the strips can stop a vehicle in 15 seconds to a minute, the state patrol said.

A state trooper used one of the strips just last week to help end a pursuit on Interstate 90 near Bellevue.

Arnold said he's thrown his share of spike strips, and that there's an art to it.

"We try to deploy them to at least get one tire, but we'd prefer to get all four because a lot of people will still run with just one tire going flat," he said.

Arnold said he's hopeful mobile spike strips will soon be installed on all state patrol vehicles so troopers won't have to stand in the middle of the road to try to stop pursuits.