No more car chases

Several years ago, I was nearly killed by a car driving in excess of 90 mph through an intersection against a red light. The front end of my car was destroyed. The air bags detonated, and both my passenger and I were unhurt. It turned out that the car that hit me (and proceeded to wrap around a telephone pole) was in a car chase. The police car arrived within a minute.

Car chases are dangerous and deadly. It looks like an alternative may be on the horizon:

“It sounds like a high-tech gadget from an action movie.

 

“Police are pursuing a driver who refuses to pull over. But instead of engaging in a dangerous, high-speed pursuit, the officer fires a GPS tag that sticks to the speeding vehicle and tracks its movements. All at the push of a button.

 

“It allows officers to mitigate the situation and also limit the probability of serious injuries or fatalities involved with high-speed pursuits,” said Major Dan Tucker of the Massachusetts State Police, which has used the system since May and has equipped 30 cruisers with the technology.

 

“A double-barreled launcher mounted on the front of the cruiser holds a pair of GPS tracking tags, two cylinder-shaped projectiles that are about the size of adult’s hand. Heated adhesive on the top of the projectile allows it to stick to the exterior of a fleeing vehicle and a magnet helps it stay in place.”

Click the link for the rest. It sounds like a good idea to me.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/09/14/metro/massachusetts-state-police-gps-tracking-tags-fleeing-vehicles/