TSA Issues Report On Threat Of Terrorists Misusing Large Commercial Vehicles

William Byrne and Lawrence Hamilton II are Partners in our Jacksonville office.

A six-page Transportation Security Administration (TSA) memorandum focusing on the potential misuse of large commercial vehicles was recently issued by the TSA's Office of Security Policy and Industry, Engagement Surface Division – Highway and Motor Carrier Section. The unclassified report, "Vehicle Ramming Attacks: Threat Landscape, Indicators, and Countermeasures" (the TSA Report), states that large commercial vehicles, if misused, pose grave risk to the public, especially in locations where large crowds have congregated.

The TSA Report identified 17 known vehicle ramming attacks worldwide in recent years that resulted in 173 deaths and 667 injuries, including the attack in Nice, France, in July 2016. That attack, carried out by a terrorist who drove a large truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, killed 86 innocent people and injured another 434. Fortunately, none of the