Dead In Your Tracks

The threat of a terrorist attack has led to remote HGV immobilisation technology, while the green light has been given for shooting at moving vehicles.

Trucks will be stopped remotely with a ‘kill switch’ designed to prevent terrorist atrocities, under plans being finalised by the Home Office.

Developed under the project name Restore (Remote Stopping of Road Engines), the technology has been shrouded in secrecy but it is understood it will give the police extraordinary powers to stop and immobilise a vehicle remotely if it presents a security risk.

The Road Haulage Association says that the tech groups behind Restore have been given type approval and the government is now drafting policy guidelines and protocols behind its use.

As T&D went to press the threat level for international terrorism in the UK is severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. It has reduced from ‘critical’ in the days following the Manchester bombing, but the intelligence services acknowledge that the country should prepare itself for another attack after a summer in which the nature of the threat changed significantly.

It means that the practices and procedures used by hauliers and rental companies are increasingly coming under scrutiny, with demands for their security to be stepped up.

“It’s about being more vigilant and doing more training,” says Chrys Rampley, RHA crime and infrastructure manager.

‘A new threat’