The last few decades have seen the mainstreaming of a very particular kind of crime vehicle ramming.
And its a problem for cities, law enforcement, and carmakers.
Theres nothing to suggest that this weeks attack was a deliberate act of domestic terrorism.
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Or what I classify asgeneral fuckwit driving.
Or someone following their sat-nav voice commands a little too closely.
Its also been an act of thementally illin Melbourne.
While vehicle ramming hasa pretty long history, its accelerated (excuse the pun) over the last decade.
In particular, vehicle ramming has been deployed in the US against protestors over the last few years.
This includes attacks aimed at Black Lives Matter protests.
Is vehicle ramming a crime?
You dont even need to be a good driver.
Other tactics incl keeping route and scheduling information confidential, reporting suspicious behavior, and promptly reporting thefts.
Could we take this one step further?
Could trucks that deviate from their route autonomously contact emergency services and instigate remote shutdown capabilities?
Can automakers stop these attacks?
In the 2016 Berlin attack, terrorists drove a truck through a local Christmas market.
There was one thing that stopped it from being far worse.
The assailants truck stopped early during the attack, potentially saving many lives.
347/2012specifies the technical requirements and test procedures foradvanced emergency braking systems(AEB).
If the driver takes no action, AEB automatically applies the vehicles brakes.
Automatic Emergency braking works automatically, without the driver actually touching the brake pedal.
All AEB systems detect vehicles, and many can sense pedestrians and cyclists.
It aims to initiate breaking.
FCW operates just before AEB.
It lets off a sound, signal, or vibration to let the driver know a collision is imminent.
This gives them a chance to react and press the brakes.
Ideally, if they fail to act, then AEB intervenes.
Is the tech good enough to stop vehicle ramming?
I would say not yet when it comes to high-speed deliberate acts.
Its simply not designed for people driving intentionally at high speed.
Forward collision warning systems that come with pedestrian detection systems are fairly new.
Further, a false positive may lead a driver to slam on the brakes, rear-ending them.
Or it may fail to be operated.
Its also possible in some cars to override these functionalities.
So, will we see deliberate car-ramming attacks from autonomous vehicles?
Theres a lot about howautonomous vehiclescould be the terrorist weapon of choice.
Where are all these autonomous attacks?
The incidents weve seen so far are dumb attacks technology-wise.
You could equally cause carnage in a smart city without even leaving your home.
Or you could fly a drone with an explosive into a crowd.Hire an Uber.
Or unleash a hackeddelivery bot.
Ultimately, vehicle ramming is a complex topic.
It requires collaboration between cities, law enforcement, and automakers.
Technology cant will away the intent to do evil, unfortunately.
Nor will the behavior be deterred if its not prosecuted as a criminal offence.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
