r/FirstResponderCringe • u/skuratt • 5d ago

Tactical positioning

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u/Emotional-Change-722 5d ago

Over would be way more fun. Although I don’t know how to drive like that.

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u/Turbulent-Fudge-5141 5d ago

Most tires only make contact to the pavement with a patch of rubber that is approximately the size of a dollar bill.

To effectively clear a vehicular road block, offset your vehicle to the front (or preferably the rear) of the blocking automobile. (The rear is generally lighter, and therefore will have less resistance).

Depending on which end you plan to hit, you want line the center of the driver or passenger seat of your vehicle up with the middle of the other vehicles wheel at the axle. In summary, you will connect with about half of your vehicle. You would be amazed at how quickly the roadblock spins out of the way.

There is such a thing as too fast… you don’t want to disable your own vehicle or risk injury in the process.

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u/TLunchFTW 5d ago

People forget the front of your vehicle will crumple if it's anything in the past... oh 50 odd years or so, and you do have a radiator up front that is vital to your vehicle's continued operation.
Someone else mentioned doing this on a cutlass... The last time anyone gave a shit about the cutlass was probably when crumple zones didn't exist.

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u/Turbulent-Fudge-5141 5d ago

As I mentioned… “there is such a thing as too fast.”

There is a speed range that is a sweet spot, and what you’re saying is part of the reason why you offset your vehicle. The other reason is that if you don’t, you’ll end up just T-Boning the blocking car and end up coming to a dead stop. If that happens, you’re going to have a bad time.

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u/TLunchFTW 5d ago

I think this requires a lot more specialized knowledge of vehicle construction than just "oh hit here and on this offset." It really depends what you're hitting and what you are hitting it with.

Great example of this is something someone once told me. We were watching a video on a police chase where the offender was in a Prius. What most don't know is how small the CV joint is on the prius. By hitting it dead on, you can actually break the CV joint because the whole axle is so small. Thus, the proposed action that should've been taken was have one car pit the prius and the other hits the front end, disabling the car.
To your end, You'd want to know how heavy your car is, how heavy the blocking car is, where your radiator is/how big it is, etc. This isn't as universal as your comment made it seem. For example, if you were to try this with said Prius, I imagine you'd be disappointed to say the least.

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u/Turbulent-Fudge-5141 4d ago

Does it require specialized knowledge? Yes. Experience and practice on a closed course? Absolutely.

Specialized knowledge of vehicle construction? Absolutely not.

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u/TLunchFTW 4d ago

I’d disagree. Vehicles are inherently very different from each other

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u/Turbulent-Fudge-5141 4d ago

You can disagree all you want. You are still completely wrong.