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If the embedded video player is not working with your browser, you can watch the video of the second-generation Truck Stopping Device so long as you have the Microsoft Windows Media 9 player.
LLNL Has now posted three high-quality videos of the latest tests, including the second-generation TSD design, a remotely operated truck-stopping device, and Bill’s earlier Terrorist Vehicle Barrier.
The California Highway Patrol, in cooperation with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other members of the Governor’s Task Force on Safe Delivery of Fuels, developed and tested a simple but effective Truck Stopping Device (TSD). This inexpensive, mechanical TSD allows any police officer in a patrol car to stop a hijacked big rig speeding on the highways without endangering the police officer. The truck driver (hijacker) can not prevent being stopped from inside the cab of the truck. The TSD was invented by Dr. Bill Wattenburg.
After Bill’s involvement in securing suspension bridges from possible terrorist attack, the California Highway Patrol asked him if he could devise some way to allow police to stop runaway or hijacked trucks on the highways. Hijacked trucks are a major terrorist vulnerability the nation faces today. A fuel tanker truck in the hands of a terrorist can be as dangerous as the airplanes that were crashed into the World Trade Center. However, law enforcement has had no means or procedures to stop hijacked large trucks other than to attempt to shoot the driver or the tires on the truck. Even when it is possible to shoot either the driver or the tires, these actions can still lead to great damage when the truck goes out of control.
The TSD is the equivalent of a disguised brake pedal mounted in or on the rear bumper of a truck or trailer. The TSD can be activated by lightly impacting the rear bumper of the truck or trailer with the high push bumper of a police patrol car. The TSD applies only the brakes on the rear axles of the truck or trailer so that the stopping action is stable at all times. The TSD uses the ABS braking features if they are installed. The TSD is connected to the air lines of a truck or trailer in such a way that any attempt to disable the TSD will cause the spring-loaded brakes (parking brakes) on a truck or trailer to lock up and prevent operation of the vehicle.
Extensive field testing has shown that lightly impacting a truck's rear bumper is a very simple and safe procedure for a police officer to execute because a speeding big truck can not stop or swerve quickly. Videos of the high speed field tests at the former Nevada Nuclear Test Site are now posted on a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory website.
The TSD is designed so that a single accidental rear impact will not activate the TSD. Other features are built into the TSD design that discourage vandalism and/or mark a vandal's vehicle for later identification. The TSD has been installed on over-the-road commercial fuel tanker trucks for over two years. There have been no accidental or unintended activations of the TSD to date. There have been no failures of the TSD that interrupted the operation of a truck.
On November 6, 2001, Bill Wattenburg demonstrated a simple device that can be installed on the back of any large truck that will allow any police patrol car to stop the moving truck on the highway if it has been hijacked — and stop it safely.
Wattenburg found a simple mechanical way to let a policeman realize his dream of being able to jump into a speeding truck and step on the brakes. But the policeman does not have to risk his life. He only has to bump the rear of the truck with his police car. This is something that is usually easy and safe for a police car to do because the rear of a speeding truck-trailer cannot be swerved dangerously by the truck driver without the truck going out of control. In fact, hijacked trucks are usually followed for hours by scores of police cars that are essentially helpless to stop the truck, even when they attempt dangerous collisions with the truck. Wattenburg’s solution requires much less than that.
The California Highway Patrol has successfully tested Wattenburg’s “Truck-Stopping Device” at their CHP Academy test track (see New York Times, 18 Nov 2001). This is the first workable solution to this major problem that has frustrated law enforcement agencies for decades. His solution requires no new equipment be installed in police cars. It does not require electronic devices be installed in trucks. It is simply mechanical. It costs no more than $200 installed on any large truck.
The CHP is now working with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to do more extensive testing and development of the truck-stopping device at the U.S Department of Energy Nevada Test Site.
There are many tricks built into this device and the procedures for using it that were not explained to the public.
For instance, the device can be disabled so that vandals or terrorists can not hit it to stop a truck in dangerous places like bridges. Conversely, it can be used to prevent dangerous trucks from entering certain areas.
There is no way to stop many hijacking events. What we are after is a way for any patrol car to be able to stop a speeding big rig carrying explosives on the highway after one is hijacked and rolling. A cop in his patrol car has no way to do this today. It takes time and a team to lay out spike mats to puncture tires — or even shoot the driver. Neither of these has proved to be very effective. Both procedures can leave the truck out of control and result in great damage. Big rigs can go one to five miles after their tires are punctured by spikes.
We do not expect this device to be installed on milllions of trucks overnight — that is clearly unreasonable. The main concern now are the thousands fuel tanker trucks that can be easily hijacked when they stop to unload. Here is where the device can be activated in such a way that a terrorist cannot disable it without crawling under the truck with tools for at least 10 minutes. That is a precious delay that gives someone time to sound an alarm. If the device is not deactivated, any police car has a chance of stopping a terrrorist driver on the highway before he reaches his target.
Written by Dr. Bill Wattenburg, November 30, 2001
Answers to those who think they see obvious flaws in the Truck Stopping Device design or easy ways to defeat it.
Many swivel-chair bureaucrats and their “experts” immediately commented on why this simple device won’t work. Remember, these are the highly paid folks who spent 20 million dollars of public money over the last thirty years on “high-tech” schemes that produced no workable or reliable solutions that law-enforcement can use today. Their most frequent sideline comments have been:
All of these obvious potential problems were considered early on by the CHP, the trucking industry, and teamster representatives who cooperated with the CHP in specifying what must be included in a workable TSD to be field tested. The several TSD designs that solve these problems are fully described in the patent applications filed. The essential features are described below.
Only the most basic version of the truck stoppingtruck-stopping device (TSD) was shown to the press and public on November 30, 2001. That was a simple air-hose cutting TSD that was mounted on the back of a tank trailer. However, it embodies and demonstrates the basic principle of the TSD in a form that most anyone can understand. And, it is just as reliable and workable as the more sophisticated versions that solve the above problems. It was not appropriate to try to describe all the secondary features of advanced models at the press demonstration. (Yes, some TSD models use simple air valves to exhaust the air pressure, but an air valve crushed by accidental impact cannot be repaired easily in the field. The simple hose-cutting version can be quickly repaired by the driver out on the road.)
The field version of the TSD is connected to the air lines of a truck or trailer in such a way that any attempt to clamp or block the air line to the TSD will cause the spring brakes to lock the wheels at all times. A hijacker is not going to drive this truck very far. The TSD can also be connected through the ABS (Automatic Braking System) to stop all wheels smoothly after impact.
The rear impact plate on the TSD that must be hit or pushed to activate the TSD is spring loaded in such a manner that great force (400–1000 lbs.) must be applied before the impact plate will move forward far enough to set the truck or trailer brakes. This eliminates most incidental activation and vandalism. Most cars will be damaged by malicious impact. Furthermore, persons or vehicles that impact the TSD are spray painted by a squirt of fluorescent paint or dye so the police or the truck owner can identify them. There is a warning on the TSD: Don’t Hit. You’ll Be Painted!
One design of the TSD requires multiple impacts to activate it. Most rear-end collisions don’t hit twice. Field testing will determine whether this multi-impact feature is necessary for the low frequency of expected rear-end collisions. Also, most trucks should stop after any serious rear-end collision to inspect for possible damage.
Cost: Estimated $200 to manufacturer.
For more information on the TSD, please contact CHP’s Enforcement Services Division at (916) 445-3253.
This page was last modified on Saturday, 30-Oct-2004 23:33:45 PDT.
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