Can technology put the brakes on current trend of vehicles being used in terror attacks? Following the recent atrocities in London, in which attackers drove vans into busy crowds, the Department for Transport in United Kingdom is considering innovative ways to tackle the new threat. Technology experts across the globe are working on solutions such as introduction of “geo-fencing”, where satellites connect with an in-car computer to slow or stop the vehicle if it encroaches into a protected area. Others include a separate system that could also send out an alert to emergency services in the event of a hijacking or vehicle theft and immobilising a vehicle remotely.rThe number of attacks where extremists have used large vehicles to plough indiscriminately into packed public spaces has grown in recent years. London has seen three terror atrocities - Westminster, London Bridge and Finsbury Park - all of which involved vehicles. Last year, 86 people were killed when a terrorist drove a 19-tonne truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France. In December, 12 people were killed when a man steered a lorry through a Christmas Market in Berlin. And in January, four soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces died after being hit by a truck as they alighted a bus in Jerusalem. rWhile departments across governments work together with the police and the security services to explore options on how to prevent the malicious use of vehicles as a weapon, what remains to be seen is how fast technology keeps pace. Innocent lives are lost in these deadly terror attacks and governments must act in quick time before terror takes another shape.
