WATCH: What have other cities done when a vehicle was used as a lethal weapon?
Toronto has joined a list of major cities that are grappling with pedestrian safety after a
van plowed into a crowd of people along a busy sidewalk,
killing 10 people and injuring 14 others.
Authorities in Toronto identified
Alek Minassian as the man suspected of using a Ryder rental van to run down several pedestrians.
READ MORE:
‘Vehicular attacks’ a trend, Canadian intelligence report says
Hours after the attack, the city set up
concrete barriers around Toronto’s Union Station — a high traffic area in the city — in order to beef up security.
Vehicle rampages have claimed hundreds of lives in recent years, particularly in Europe. In September, a man
stabbed a police officer and ran over four pedestrians in a U-haul cube van in Edmonton.
The vehicle attacks in Toronto and Edmonton have raised questions about preventative measures, specifically, if barriers should go up in heavy pedestrian areas.
WATCH: Graphic re-creation shows how van attack unfolded down Toronto’s Yonge Street
What have other major cities done?
The use of pedestrian safety measures, like concrete barriers, is growing in cities around Europe and the United States as vehicle attacks become more prominent.
Governments around the world have been forced to work out how to protect citizens while keeping public areas aesthetically pleasing.
READ MORE:
Vehicle ramming attacks, a timeline of incidents from 2006 to now
“In the aftermath of attacks … obtrusive security features – notably temporary concrete or steel blocks – are commonly ‘thrown’ around key sites to stop vehicle attacks. They are not necessarily aesthetically pleasing,” Jon Coaffee, a professor of Urban Geography at the University of Warwick wrote in
The Conversation.
“There is a predominant view among security experts that security features, where possible, should be as unobtrusive as possible. This had led to them being increasingly camouflaged and subtly embedded within the cityscape,” he wrote.
Examples of these camouflaged barriers include public artwork, flower pots, decorative walls or steal benches that are heavily anchored to the ground.
Nice, France
During Bastille Day celebrations in
Nice in 2016, a man drove a cargo truck into crowds, killing 86 people. Since the attack, the city has spent nearly
$50 million on protecting potential target areas in the city from possible vehicle attacks.
Berlin, Germany
Twelve people were killed in December 2016, after a man rammed into a crowd of people at a
Christmas market in central Berlin.
READ MORE:
Security heightened as Germany opens Christmas markets one year after fatal Berlin truck attack
WATCH: Toronto Christmas market increases security after Berlin attack
New York City, U.S.
In October 2017, a man drove a rented pickup truck down a busy Manhattan bike path,
killing eight people and injuring 11 others.
Since the attack, the city has spent nearly $65 million on protective measures, including the installation of
1,500 metal barriers in key locations around New York City.
WATCH: New York City dealing with its first terror attack since 9/11
Las Vegas, U.S.
After the
fatal shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017, the city installed hundreds of bollards along the Las Vegas Strip in what officials called a “matter of life and death” to protect people from those who could use vehicles as weapons.
London, U.K.
On June 3, 2017, three attackers struck pedestrians on the London Bridge before exiting the vehicle and stabbing people in an attack claimed by ISIS. Days later, a man drove a van into a group of worshippers leaving London’s Finsbury Park mosque, injuring 10 and killing one.
READ MORE:
Dramatic video shows moment police shoot dead 3 London attackers
In the wake of the attacks, the British government issued a 175-page document called
Crowded Places Guidance, which highlighted how public seating and solid planters could prevent a threat like this from happening again.
The city of London also installed concrete blocks and large barriers along main bridges, such as Westminister and London Bridge in order to dissuade any future attacks.
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