A life-saving technology created by a former Upstate law enforcement officer could soon be hitting the market. It’s aimed at warning people when a high-speed police pursuit is happening close by.
High-speed chases are unpredictable at best. Too often they are deadly, killing innocent bystanders caught in the crosshairs, according to Tim Morgan.
“When you’ve seen that, not only the devastation at the scene but the devastation at the home, it lasts forever,” said Morgan.
“We have warning systems for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and lightning, but more people are killed in high-speed pursuits each year than all four of those combined,” said Morgan.
He and wife Trish got to work developing a device plan and teaming up with the Pickens Innovation Center last year. There are many aspects of this project that are still under wraps. They are planning for a March unveiling, but the bottom line is this is life-saving technology that will alert people close to police pursuits and stop them in their tracks.
“It will be simple notification,” said Pickens Innovation Center Director, Mark Reid Davis. “It arrives in community members within a radius of the pursuit and changes their thinking.”
Statistics show there’s a death every day in the US stemming from the 50,000 police pursuits each year.
“It’s not going to be a cure-all, but it’s something that will warn the public with the goal of saving lives,” said Morgan about his device.