Preventing attacks where vehicles are used as weapons is difficult, but certain urban design measures could help avoid them, according to an expert.
Two people died and nine others were injured Monday in the Quebec city of Amqui after being hit by a pickup truck. Police alleged the driver rammed into random pedestrians, including children.
Alex Wilner, who teaches international affairs at Carleton University and has expertise in security, said certain street design measures can help prevent vehicle access to sidewalks and other areas where pedestrians cross. gather.
These include raising road edges, erecting ramparts, increasing the use of pedestrian bridges and creating divisions between cycle paths, jogging paths and roads, he said. .
Such measures have been implemented in some urban settings, including parts of Toronto and Ottawa, Wilner said, but divisions between roads and walkways can be almost non-existent in smaller communities, like Amqui. .
“I think our efforts to combat this have focused on large urban areas, which makes sense to prevent access to large events like parades in downtown areas or large walkways,” Wilner said in an interview.
“But for the most part, these defenses have not been implemented as widely in rural areas or in suburban areas. »
Vehicles used in attacks, while they can be as deadly as explosives and firearms, are easy to rent and buy, Wilner said, making such cases difficult to prevent.
“It’s much easier to get hold of a vehicle than an explosive device, and it can be just as effective in creating damage,” Wilner said.
“That’s the problem we have in trying to address its use, and I don’t think there’s an easy solution. »
Francois Bonnardel, Quebec’s public safety minister, said Tuesday the government would try to learn from what happened in Amqui to help prevent future tragedies, but it’s hard to completely rule out any possibility of an isolated attack.
“This killing spree is hard to prevent,” he said. “We can put everything in place, and tomorrow morning someone can decide again to get in a car, in a truck and go on strike. »
The driver of the van in the Amqui case has been charged with dangerous driving causing death and the Crown has said further charges will no doubt follow once all the evidence is in place.
Bonnardel said it’s too early to tell what motivated the Amqui driver.
The Amqui tragedy came shortly after a school bus rammed into a daycare center in Laval, Que., in February, killing two young children and injuring six. A Société de transport de Laval driver has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven other offenses in the case.
In 2021, five members of a Muslim family who were walking on a hot summer evening were hit by a van in London, Ontario. Four died and one was seriously injured. A man charged in the case faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in what prosecutors allege was an act of terrorism.
In Toronto, ten people were killed after a man deliberately drove a rental van down a busy sidewalk in April 2018. Three years later, another person died from injuries sustained in the attack. The van driver was found guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder
Wilner of Carleton University said pedestrians should try to be aware of their surroundings.
“I personally remember walking in Toronto after the van attack that I would walk differently. I would look for areas where I could escape if necessary quickly,” he said.
“Being aware of your situation, maybe walking around without looking at your screen can help save lives. »
—Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press
Crime
