Easy to obtain and advantageous for attacking civilians
IS issues guidelines for “actively using it for terrorism”
70% of car crash accidents occurred after 2014
“The poor man’s weapon of mass destruction”
Awareness of ‘vehicle terrorism’ is growing as an Islamic State (IS) flag and explosives were discovered in a terrorist vehicle in New Orleans, Louisiana. There are also concerns that fear may spread as vehicles frequently used in daily life are used as lethal terrorist weapons.
In fact, vehicle terrorism has been on the rise recently. According to San Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), 70% of incidents (a total of 184 cases) that caused casualties by intentionally crashing vehicles between 1963 and 2019 have occurred since 2014. IS, which issued guidelines encouraging vehicle terrorism in 2016, caused 17 vehicle terrorist attacks around the world between 2014 and 2017, killing 173 people. Vehicles were also used in anti-Islamist terrorism. At the Christmas market held in Magdeburg, Germany in December last year, a Saudi Arabian man rammed a sports utility vehicle (SUV) into a crowd, killing five people and injuring more than 200.
There are quite a few vehicle terrorist attacks whose motive has nothing to do with extremist Islam. Last November, in Zhuhai, China, a 62-year-old man who was dissatisfied with the division of property after divorce hit people with his car, killing 35 people. In 2017, a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing or injuring 36 people.
The reason vehicle terrorism is increasing is because vehicles are easier to obtain than guns or explosives, and security checks are relatively free. According to the New York Times (NYT), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) analyzed in an internal document that “if an attacker with limited access to explosives or weapons uses a vehicle, he or she can cause great damage even with minimal experience or training.” . Britain’s The Times also reported that cars have become “poor people’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD).”
There is also an analysis that the increase in large-scale outdoor activities since the COVID-19 pandemic has created an environment conducive to vehicle terrorism. This is because most vehicle terrorist attacks target the general public, not high-ranking officials such as government agencies.
Accordingly, many cities are installing vehicle entry barriers or barricades to prevent vehicle terrorism, the Associated Press reported. However, there are clear limits to completely preventing terrorism as it can cause traffic inconveniences. New Orleans Mayor Rutoya Cantrell said at a press conference that “about 300 police officers were deployed on New Year’s Eve, but the perpetrator intentionally bypassed the barricades and committed the crime.” In the Christmas market accident in Germany, the offending vehicle went through an ambulance lane and struck citizens.
Reporter Hong Jeong-su [email protected]
Reporter Yunjin Kim [email protected]
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