This article was originally published by Joe Alton, MD at DoomAndBloom.net
Dr. Alton is the co-author of The Survival Medicine Handbook, an essential guide for when medical help is NOT on the way.
In these days of Pokemon Go and other smartphone distractions, you’re seeing more and more people oblivious of their surroundings. In the past, this might get you a bump on the head by walking into a lamp post. In today’s world, however, it could cost you your life.
As an Anglophile, I have often visited London and walked from my hotel to parliament and other sites via the Westminster bridge. Today, on the anniversary of the terrorist attack in Belgium, someone used a vehicle to mow down pedestrians on the bridge and then, apparently, left the car to continue a rampage that has left a number of casualties in its wake.
The British authorities are just beginning to label the event a terrorist attack. I have little doubt of it. The Daily Caller has favored me by publishing some of my political articles, but my avocation is that of a disaster preparedness expert. In this uncertain world, I work to promote the development of a culture of situational awareness to avoid the possibility of becoming a victim of just such an attack.
Situational awareness involves understanding factors in your immediate vicinity that might represent a threat. I’m not talking about second-hand smoke; I’m talking about serious dangers that you can avoid with rapid action.
Vehicular terrorism is not new, with Israel the scene of multiple attacks in past years. It’s becoming more and more common in the West, however, with attacks in Nice, France on Bastille Day and in Berlin at a Christmas market. In the United States, a Somali student used his car to run over several people at Ohio State University and then perpetrated a knife attack on those who, ironically, ran over to see if he was injured. Many similar events rarely make the news.
Terror attacks are often associated with bombs, but making a bomb requires some expertise to assemble safely. Guns, the other preferred weapon, are difficult to come by in most countries other than the U.S. Owning or renting a vehicle, however, is easy. Trucks and cars can cause mass casualties if wielded as a weapon; obtaining one isn’t an act that evokes suspicion.
Recently, an article titled “Just Terror Tactics” was published by the English-language ISIS magazine “Rumiyah”. It described which vehicles will cause the most damage and called for attacks on Western crowds. “It is a simple idea and there is not much involved in its preparation,” the article said. “All what is needed is the willingness to give one’s life for Allah.”
The article goes on: “Pick your location and timing carefully. Go for the most crowded locations. Narrower spots are also better because it gives less chance for the people to run away. Avoid locations where other vehicles may intercept you…”
“To achieve maximum carnage, you need to pick up as much speed as you can while still retaining good control of your vehicle in order to maximize your inertia and be able to strike as many people as possible in your first run.”
The writer also suggested attackers weld steel blades onto the front of an SUV: “They do not need to be extra sharp because with the speed of the truck at the time of impact, even a blunter edge would slice through bone very easily. You may raise the level of the blades as high as the headlights. That would make the blades strike your targets at the torso level or higher.”
These tactics represents the new blueprint among terrorists for causing mayhem. Few people pay much attention to traffic unless they’re driving a vehicle themselves or crossing the street. The speed at which a vehicle can accelerate and turn into a crowd leaves little reaction time. Therefore, the “success” rate of this type of terror event may surpass even a gunman’s ability to cause deaths and injuries.
I advocate for a constant state of “Yellow Alert” when in public spaces. By that, I mean a calm but vigilant observation of what’s happening around you. Look for anomalies in behavior that might warn you of nefarious intentions. For example, hopping up and down and screaming may be normal at a rock concert, but it’s an anomaly at Starbucks.
This attitude is useful, but it’s difficult to respond quickly enough to avoid an oncoming car or truck. When a vehicle moves erratically or leaves the normal pattern of traffic, it’s an anomaly that requires quick action. Mentally noting routes of escape whenever you’re in public will give you the best chance of escaping. Just as knowing the location of exits in a mall or theatre is good policy, a heightened awareness is now important at any public area near roadways.
For vehicular terrorists, the target will be crowds of people near the street. Their objective is mass casualties, and those pedestrians nearest the curb will bear the brunt of the attack. Consider walking on the fringe of a crowd away from the road to give yourself the most options. In the center, the masses, not your own good judgment, will dictate your movement.
Municipalities can protect their citizens from vehicular terrorism by constructing barriers known as “bollards” which stop vehicles from entering pedestrian areas. These can be seen outside many government buildings and airport terminals. Expanding their use to areas that attract crowds would be an important consideration for the future.
I’m not the only one thinking of how to deal with vehicular terror. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security recently issued a release warning of vehicular terrorism and how to identify an imminent attack. The release acknowledges the time issues in reacting to such events, but includes the following things to look for:
- Unusual modifications to vehicles, such as frontal reinforcement.
- The purchase or rental of large or heavy-duty vehicles, especially if there is nervousness during the transaction, payment in cash, or lack of familiarity with the vehicle’s operations.
- Commercial motor vehicles or heavy equipment being operated in unusual locations, such as particularly heavy pedestrian areas.
- Attempts to approach areas closed to traffic, such as street festivals or farmers’ markets.
- A vehicle operator’s apparent unfamiliarity with operating a commercial vehicle, such as trouble with gear shifting.
I’ll admit that the likelihood you’ll be in the path of a terrorist using a vehicle, or any other weapon, is very small. Panic isn’t the answer, but these are troubled times; the more situationally aware you are, the safer you’ll be.
Joe and Amy Alton are the authors of the 3 category #1 Amazon Bestseller “The Survival Medicine Handbook“. See their articles in Backwoods Home, Survival Quarterly, and other great magazines. For over 900 articles on medical preparedness in wilderness, disaster, or other austere settings, go to their website at www.doomandbloom.net. The opinions voiced by Joe Alton, M.D., and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P. are their own and are not meant to take the place of seeking medical help from a qualified healthcare provider. All email content sent by the Altons are copyright DoomandBloom llc, 2017, all rights reserved.
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Soon everyone will be required to drive a smart car to reduce fatalities. We need vehicle control NOW! Sign the petition at weareidiots.org
“G”
I went back and check the Vol. on my 300 Win. Mags. should be 2875 to 2895. Sorry about that. I was taking it off the top of my head.
Topic at hand. I’m going to have to carry a BIGGER GUN!
Sgt.
No muslim trash,no vehicle attacks. Solution is obvious.
as america(ns) fiddles, the WORLD burns.
Mac, the malicious video ad is still there screwing up your site…. just above the comments
Genius, instead of banning our enemies from our country, we should all give up our driving rights?
“G”
Sorry I gave you the wrong INFO My 300 Win Mag rounds and going out at 2875 to 2895. I told you that I was doing off the top of my head. Close but no Cigar.
Now for the topic at hand. I’m going to carry a bigger gun!!!
Sgt.
Mark my words, smart cars will be used to deliver car bombs. They will become the poor man’s cruise missile.
Consider preps that can stop cars that have run flat tires.
None of the unusual bullet points presented as suspicion to intervene are unusual. If you’ve never driving anything larger than a pickup, try renting a 30 foot diesel moving box truck and see how you adapt and behave.
I would think that some form of practice and familiarization would be involved, first.
.50
Genius is right on the smart cars, as far as
Walking around with your head down and having
no situational awareness and get ran over,
I’m ok with that we call that the gene pool
Better off they don’t breed.
I guess we’re just going to have to clear out
MC hammer pants diaper heads out of the country
There problem solved eliminating the threat done.
If a grizzly is going to attack you are you just going to stand there trying to get on Twitter, not me.
Someday some Muslim is going to connect the idea of FA bombs with the common presence of Propane tanker trucks, maybe add LOX trucks to the mix.
Of course, the results will have nothing to do with Islam.
I grew up on a bicycle.
I’m a motorcycle rider.
I used to be a cross country runner.
I assume that every one in a car or truck
wants to kill me. Thus far they have missed
because I get out of the way.
People need to keep a watch and assume
everyone wants to kill you, and develop
a plan to kill them first. Be polite, be
professional, but be certain.
I’ve always had a bit of paranoia when I drive. Yes, stupid people really are out to get you!
It’s not such a bad attitude to survive by.
My dad said wait three or four seconds before proceeding through a green light. People do run lights. I said, I look both ways and go, people run red lights all the time, and they don’t obey your three second rule, just assume they are out to kill you, and look for them.
My number one rule for driving, stay on task. That is the mantra, stay on task.
The author of this article about the terror attack in England/Europe about vehicles as weapons has an MD after his name. A doctor should know that the most dangerous weapon being unleashed on the citizens is disease.
These people come from the Middle East and Africa. They carry extremely dangerous diseases: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and leprosy; to name a few.
President Trump either can not or will not stop them from coming ing into the United States, by the tens of thousands, in the dead of night. They are sneaking them in when there is less attention at night. Perhaps President Trump is unaware. Someone needs to call and let him know, we don’t want these soldiers here to kill us and spread their filthy diseases.
There will be war and death and that pleases TPTB. We can stand up to the leadership now or wait until we are outnumbered. These people are well behaved until they build up enough in numbers, then they push their weight around. Fight the people bringing them in: Catholic Charities is one group, and the one outstanding group behind “immigration and open borders” is and has been since the beginning THE CHEWS.
Organized ChewRe is Marxism is the destruction of civilization. For the sake of all mankind, take the Red Pill before it is too late. It’s The Chews, stupid. It is the Chew wish Agenda, and it involves the complete annihilation of the white western man, his culture, his civilization, his genes, an end to the existence of white western man on this planet.
__
Anyone notice that America has been bed bug free for nearly 3/4 of a century, and in the last ten years they have again become a plague across the entire US?
I love unregulated immigration. /sarc
I’m an old fart.
I have a water bed.
Easy to sanitize.
relatively cheap.
Keep patches handy if your
wife has cats, it can get wet,
when you throw the cat off the bed, it
puts its’ claws out.
I will never have a
problem with bugs!
Just those freaking cats.
Oh hell,anything can be used as a weapon if the desire there.The big box building stores are armories just waiting for a mixer.
Hell,in the right hands even Geniuse’s ak with pogo stick bumpy stock could be used as a weapon!
Bingo,
Years before 911, a small plane was flown into the White House. OMG, who would have guessed a plane would have been used as a weapon again, yeah that was Clinton……
A plane being a transportation item that if misused could cause death….. And car accidents cause 30,000 US deaths a year, but stage one and scream Allah Snackbar and the world takes notice.
You mean false flag, hoaxes, these events are staged, you insult the readers intelligence by calling it real
Careful with jokes comparing vehicle bans as in gun bans as we are nearing self driving cars that can also be hacked. Soon, as in minority report movie, we may have only self driving vehicles with no actual,ownership but more on a rental per use govt mandate. They can then track everyone always as driving is not a constitutionally protected right whereas travel is…the method of travel is not protected. Guns are under fire for the method of protection or right to bear arms they are already infringing upon by limiting the types of guns and even ammo….imagine the ease in which they can rule over the method of travel…first they will try and convince us the safety and convenience then mandate because of terrorism or other BS. Soon after they will probably try telling us meat is so bad for the environment because the animals fart methane we must all be vegetarian…it will never stop until the people stop…as in Atlas Shrugged…just stop…stop paying taxes, stop working stop the economy all at once to eminent em who is really in charge….it’s a pipe dream and the republic is over since obummer ruined it….
We need Vehicle Control, may be to avoid this
Apparently there are good guns and bad guns. Good guns are wood and steel, bold few rounds and don’t automatically reload themselves. Bad guns are black, many have plastic stocks and have large ammunition capacity. They are called “assault”.
In light of the above are there good cars and bad cars? Good cars have small engines, don’t go fast and are non threatening in appearance. Bad cars have bad names like Viper, they go fast and are used to hurt and kill. In this spirit the weapon of choice of drug dealers in Phila was reported to be the baseball bat. I wonder, were they the wooden sporting bat or the sinister aluminum assault bat?
Who said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Haven’t we all tried to get along long enough? We just can’t get along . Isn’t it obvious? Are things getting better as the brown population grows? Are we not doing the same thing and expecting different results? How deep can we go and still dig ourselves out? Look at every country controlled by these brown people and see what you get? Deny that? Give some reason for there actions ? Education? Genetics? Why? If we continue to expect different results we will be exterminated.
Really good point: I have lived long enough to see that not a single country has got better as this population has increased. The problems have just piled up, while none of these countries have improved or become a beacon of civilisation. They all are filthy, violent, and kept alive with foreign aid. Now, France, Sweden etc. are getting worse and worse.
The only people who have pulled themselves out of this mess are Asians. Asians work hard, are disciplined, love education and starting businesses. Ironically, they also respect European civilisation and its achievements.
Traitor Hator
A friends brother did a few years in the peace corps. He had the same conclusion and attributed it not to race but the environment.
The struggle for man has been the acquisition of food. Warm climate people could just climb a tree to get something to eat. Their growing season was long so thrift and planning for the cold winter wasn’t a prerequisite for survival. Those not able to adapt to the harsh conditions were plucked out of the gene pool before they could procreate in the cold climates, unlike their warm weathered brethren.
In the spirit of the above Roman Catholics were held back by the instance of the Priests not being able to marry. Clergy of any faith at the time were the few that were taught to read. Religions that allowed their “leaders” to marry had children that could read, the gene pool was elevated.
US blacks have a much higher incidence of high blood pressure than their African counterparts. Slaves were given little water in the long trip to the new world. Those that didn’t retain water were the “cargo” that died in transit. The gene pool plucked out those that did not have an affinity for high blood pressure.
Look at a wolf, german shepard and toy poodle, they’re all from the same gene pool but due to intervention far different in appearance and mannerisms.
This is a perfect example of how gov. Employees are useless. Cops. Can’t stop these people only armed citizens can? And you gov. Employes that disagree are the domestic enemy. Maybe inatvertantly helping the domestic enemy. Or just putting in your twenty to get your pension and f the country’s future? Paybacks a bitch?
We have the technology to track and if necessary immobilise any vehicle being driven by a Muslim trying to use it as a weapon. This could be implemented by making it compulsory upon the issuance of a driver’s licence and certification. Muslim’s would have to have their cars chipped and an immobiliser placed on the engine. The same should happen with any youth with a car. It is easy to have the technology to detect a rapid acceleration of the vehicle or the presence of human beings in front. This technology is already available with more expensive European cars.
To be frank, I do not care one wit if a Muslim can’t afford such technology to be able to drive a car. Get them to walk their butt on the sidewalk or have to take public transport like the rest of us.
All these vehicle attacks involve the vehicle undetaking an irratic driving pattern (rapid acceleration, or hitting of objects). It is very simple to have the engine shut down when this happens. There is no legitimate driving reason for rapid acceleration and/or hitting things with the front of your car.