Spike Strips

The Standard Operating Procedure for using spike strips on a fleeing vehicle

Consider your own safety

To ensure your own safety when spiking a vehicle, you need to choose a safe position to do so. This can be done by using a solid object like street lamps, traffic signs or the median to use as cover. If you need to cover both lanes, to do so effectively you can make use of your vehicle by placing it in a 45 degree angle and use it as a funnel to direct the car towards you. Enable the lights on your vehicle so that you can be seen by this vehicle and other road users.

Communicate

If you are involved in a pursuit it is vital to stay updated on the location, make, model colour and registration of the fleeing vehicle. It is also useful to have a description of the driver and its occupants.

Consider the safety of others

After successfully spiking a vehicle's tires, your spike strip needs to be picked up immediately. Leaving your spike strip in the middle of the road will lead to further accidents and damage to uninvolved vehicles. If picking up your spike strip is not practicable (such as if the suspect opening fire at you), you need to do so at the earliest convenience.

When positioning your vehicle, where practicable and applicable, angle your vehicle in a fend off position on the lane that the vehicle you are trying to spike is not approaching on. For example, if the vehicle is approaching on the left, angle your vehicle on the right. This is effective for two main reasons:

1. You will not be in the lane that the vehicle is approaching on, meaning you are less likely to be hit

2. If the vehicle tries to dodge your spikes, it is likely to hit your vehicle. If your vehicle is in a fend off position, the vehicle will be forced into your spikes.

Try to take a few steps from your vehicle when deploying your spikes so if the approaching vehicle does collide with your vehicle, it is less likely to then bounce into you. 

When you are on a highway lane, try to determine which lane it is approaching from and apply the same theory, positioning your car on the lane that it will not approach from. 

The following screenshot depicts an effective deployment of spike strips. The officer is a good distance from the car, you do not need to be this far in practice but it is good to keep yourself a considerable distance for the reason cited above. Remain a distance that you are safe but still able to see the approaching vehicle.

The red arrow shows what lane the vehicle is approaching on. The green arrow shows what direction your vehicle should be and therefore what direction the approaching vehicle will be forced to move if it collides with your vehicle. The blue line shows how far from the vehicle the officer is in this case. The yellow line shows the spike strips that the vehicle will drive over.

In this example, the officer's vehicle is facing the direction that traffic will be flowing on the opposite side. This is effective because it means you can get back into the car and follow the vehicle without having to turn around. You must consider your safety when doing this. If the vehicle is approaching quickly then consider taking up the same angle but positioning your vehicle the other way around so you are not putting yourself at risk of being hit by exiting the vehicle as it approaches towards you.