Public security

Police Seeks Mass Vehicle Attack Solution

A remote ‘kill switch’ to immobilise HGVs is being secretly developed by UK government scientists who fear a Nice-style ISIS massacre in the UK. They are investigating methods of interfering with the electronics of lorries to stop them in their tracks if hijacked or used in an attack.

In Nice, France, the attack ended with a trail of carnage as a truck rammed through the coastal city’s packed promenade during Bastille Day celebrations. Last December, a truck was deliberately driven into the Christmas market in Berlin.

Experts in the UK Home Office’s scientific wing want to develop and install a technology which would enable them to stop high risk vehicles remotely. These include HGVs and other large vehicles, particularly those carrying hazardous loads such as fuel and chemicals.