# Severe tire damage (not the band, but tire spikes)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 3, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083 "2002-06-03T04:02:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/1 "2002-06-03T04:02:49Z")

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Watching a Rockfile File rerun from the mid-70s, Ol’ Jimmy escapes a police tail by driving over the curb into a parking lot, while the police car goes up the exit, and Bam! The tire spikes guarding the exit cause the aforementioned severe tire damage.  
This appears in enough episodes to plant in my mind the idea that every parking lot back then had these one-way tire spikes.  
So, were/are they still common? I’ve seen only one in recent years, in a truck terminal where driving the wrong direction would lead to much more dire consequences than not paying a parking fee.  
I understand that police can use them in road-blocks, and that they used to be used at military bases and rental car agencies, but nowadays would a parking lot still use them (considering they’d easily wipe out $120 steel belt radials)?

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**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/2 "2002-06-03T04:06:55Z")

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A lot of airports seem to have them, at least the parts where the rental cars are. And I know they have stuff like that at the White House.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/3 "2002-06-03T04:11:24Z")

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The first (and I believe only) time I saw them was at Disneyland, in the early 60’s. Apparently they really didn’t want people getting into (or out of?) the parking lot the wrong way. I didn’t notice then, but I assume it was to make sure they got their parking fee. There were plenty of very noticeable signs warning drivers not to take certain paths, at the risk of tire destruction.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/4 "2002-06-03T04:14:20Z")

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They seem to be a West Coast thingie. I’ve never seem them outside of California, Oregon and Washington.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/5 "2002-06-03T04:23:53Z")

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Nope, we have them in Illinois, here and there. Starved Rock State Park has them at their campground, to keep you from driving the wrong way into the RV dumping station.

I’ve also seen them at a Chicago parking lot by the Adler Planetarium.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/6 "2002-06-03T04:33:27Z")

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I’ve seen them at Quebec/New York border crossings at the duty-free store. In order to enter the Canadian store’s parking lot, you have to enter on the Canadian side and exit on the U.S. side. The U.S. exit was guarded with tire spikes, presumably to keep local U.S. citizens from just driving in, shopping, and going home.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/7 "2002-06-03T04:57:31Z")

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I’ve seen them in Wisconsin. I believe the ones I saw at Florida (when we rented a car) actually had one to get out of the lot also. When you rented a car you had to show something to a person at a booth next to the exit, and then he did something to make the spike go down.

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**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/8 "2002-06-03T05:19:24Z")

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How do these things work? Does the angle of the spikes combined with the direction of approach create alternately puncture/no-puncture areas?

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**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/9 "2002-06-03T05:36:03Z")

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In case anyone is wondering, these things work.

A good friend blew out ALL FOUR TIRES – BLAMBLAM! BLAMBLAM! – at a car rental place when she drove over one. God, I love that story.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/10 "2002-06-03T10:17:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jjtm \*  
> \*\*How do these things work? Does the angle of the spikes combined with the direction of approach create alternately puncture/no-puncture areas? \*\*

They work somewhat (well, almost exactly) like a check valve. They sit there at a bit of an angle pointing in the direction that you should not go for example, in this case you can only go from right to left:  
\_\_ **\_** \<- (slash represents spikes)  
At the base they have a hinge that only bends one way (like a door hinge). In this case when traveling from right to left the spike would bend down when you drive over them and a spring would push them back up afterwards. If you go in the other direction, they don’t move and you end up with severe tire damage from all the spikes.  
Now in the case where there is a booth operator sitting their letting the traffic out as they pay for parking (or whatever reason they have) the spike are set up so that driving out of the lot will cause the tire damage, but once you pay, the booth operator hits a button that make the spike recede into the ground. Presumebly the whole setup is mounted on hydraulics.  
I’m sure this is all over simplified a bit, but I belive this is the basic idea.

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**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/11 "2002-06-03T10:33:45Z")

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I’ve seen these at our airport, also…I figured it was a pretty standard security measure at certain types of U.S. parking lots. I guess not.

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**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/12 "2002-06-03T12:57:56Z")

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I saw them at a few drive-in movies in Dallas, back in the 50’s.

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**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/13 "2002-06-03T14:56:01Z")

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I’ve never seen them except when I was on holidays in California in the mid-90s. I don’t recall seeing them at the border between BC/Wash at all nor at any parking lots in BC (where I used to live).

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**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/14 "2002-06-03T15:01:55Z")

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The Avis/Dollar car rental lot used to have them when I worked for Dollar back in the day. Many a times I would see some dumb driver not paying attention and run over them.

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**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severe-tire-damage-not-the-band-but-tire-spikes/112083/15 "2002-06-03T16:34:56Z")

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I’ve been to a state park that had 'em, but they might not anymore. (it was when I was little, and I don’t remember which one. The one I go to sometimes now doesn’t.)