How cars and trucks are becoming new terror weapons to kill, injure and instill fear

A man, now identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, deliberately plowed a pickup truck into crowds on Bourbon Street, killing nearly 15 people while dozen others were left injured. Authorities are investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.

The incident was the latest in a long string of vehicle-based attacks against crowds, dating back decades. Vehicle ramming did not start as a terrorist tactic, but it has frequently been used by extremist organizations and radicalized individuals to kill, injure and instill fear.

Why are vehicles used as weapons?

Cars and trucks are ubiquitous, especially in the developed world, and can easily be repurposed into deadly weapons.

As per a FBI handout, assailants with "limited access to explosives or weapons" can use vehicles to cause great harm "with minimal prior training or experience."

As airports and other areas are becoming heavily secured, some terrorists and other assailants began to use vehicles against more vulnerable targets, such as groups of people congregating in public spaces.

What is the history of such attacks?
Using vehicles to indiscriminately attack people has a long history, mostly unrelated to organized terrorism, such as the 22-year-old Czechoslovak woman who killed eight people in 1973, citing her grievances against society.

Islamic groups: In a 2010 article in its magazine, Inspire, al-Qaida encouraged adherents to use vehicles "to mow down the enemies of Allah." But the tactic did not really catch on among would-be terrorists until several years later, when the Islamic State group began to call publicly for vehicle attacks.

New York City: A man drove a pickup truck into a crowded bike path in 2017 along the Hudson River in Manhattan, killing eight and injuring at least 11 before he was shot by police. Notes found near the scene indicated the killer's allegiance to the Islamic State group, authorities said.

Israel and the West Bank: he use of vehicles as weapons has become common, with dozens of attacks by Palestinians against Israeli soldiers and civilians. The tactic became more prominent in the 2010s, during a wave of "lone wolf" attacks by Palestinians who were largely unaffiliated with organized armed groups.

Nice, France: More than 80 people were killed and hundreds injured when a man drove a 19-ton truck through a crowd of spectators watching Bastille Day fireworks in southern France. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack; investigators said the driver had been self-radicalized by watching jihadi videos, with no evidence linking him directly to the terrorist group.

Charlottesville, Virginia: A man drove his car into a crowd of people protesting a gathering of white supremacists, killing one woman and injuring nearly 40 other people. He was convicted of first-degree murder.

George Floyd protests: During civil rights demonstrations after Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in 2020, there were at least 66 vehicle attacks on protesters, according to Ari E. Weil, the deputy research director at the Chicago Project on Security and Threats of the University of Chicago. It was sometimes difficult to assess whether the attacks were spontaneous or premeditated.

China: In November, 35 people were killed after a man drove a vehicle into a crowd at a sports center in the southern city of Zhuhai. A week later, another man drove a car into a group of people near an elementary school in the central city of Changde, injuring multiple students.

Germany's Christmas markets: In 2016, a man killed 12 people by driving a truck into a crowd in central Berlin. In December, a man drove into a crowd in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing at least five people, including a 9-year-old child.

(With inputs of The New York Times)