A vehicle-ramming attack is an assault in which a perpetrator deliberately
rams
In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
into a building, crowd of people,
or another vehicle. According to
Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting Inc., commonly known as Stratfor, is an American geopolitics publisher and consultancy founded in 1996. Stratfor's business model is to provide individual and enterprise subscriptions to Stratfor Worldview, its online public ...
Global Intelligence analysts, this attack represents a relatively new militant tactic that could prove more difficult to prevent than
suicide bombings.
Deliberate vehicle-ramming into a crowd of people is a tactic used by
terrorists
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
,
becoming a major terrorist tactic in the 2010s because it requires little skill to perpetrate, cars and trucks are widely available, and it has the potential to cause significant casualties.
Deliberate vehicle-ramming has also been carried out in the course of other types of
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
s, including
road rage
Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by motorists. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists in an effort to intimid ...
incidents. Deliberate vehicle-ramming incidents have also sometimes been ascribed to the driver's
psychiatric disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
.
[Alan R. Felthouse,]
Personal Violence
in ''The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Forensic Psychiatry'' (2d ed.: eds. Robert I. Simon & Liza H. Gold), pp. 551-52: "An automobile is a potentially lethal machine. Litigation involving psychiatrists has resulted when a hospitalized patient, after discharges, caused a two-person vehicle accident with death or injuries to one or more victims ... Such cases involve three different types of scenarios. One is the vehicular crash that results from the patient's medication-induced drowsiness at the wheel ... The second scenario is a true accident but is unrelated to any prescribed medication. Rather, the patient's driving is impaired by the disabling effects of mental illness rrecent consumption of nonprescribed drugs or alcohol. The third situation is when the patient deliberately crashes into another vehicle. Neuropsychiatric conditions that can be associated with an increased risk of vehicular crash include psychotic exacerbation of schizophrenia, profound or suicidal depression, dementia, and disturbances in consciousness, such as epilepsy and narcolepsy."
Vehicles have also been used by attackers to breach buildings with locked gates, before detonating explosives, as in the
Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack
A terrorist attack took place on 26 June 2015 in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, France, when a man, Yassin Salhi, decapitated his employer Hervé Cornara and drove his van into gas cylinders at a gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near ...
.
Causes and motives
Ease
According to the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, the tactic has gained popularity because "Vehicle ramming offers terrorists with limited access to explosives or weapons an opportunity to conduct a homeland attack with minimal prior training or experience."
[ Vehicles are as easy to acquire as knives, but unlike knives, which may arouse suspicion if found in one's possession, vehicles are essential for daily life, and the capability of vehicles to cause casualties if used aggressively is underestimated.
]
Islamic terrorism
Counterterrorism researcher Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (born 1976) is an author and the founder and chief executive officer of Valens Global. In addition to his role at Valens Global, Dr. Gartenstein-Ross is a Senior Advisor on Asymmetric Warfare at the Foundation for Defen ...
of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank and registered lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C., United States.
The group's political leanings have been described as hawkish and neoconservative ...
told ''Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' that the tactic has been on the rise in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
because, " the security barrier is fairly effective, which makes it hard to get bombs into the country." In 2010, ''Inspire
The following is a thematic list of European Union directives:
For a date based list, see the :European Union directives by number
Numbering
From 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2014, numbers assigned by the General Secretariat of the Council ...
'', the online, English-language magazine produced by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit=Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula or , ''Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jaz ...
urged mujahideen to choose "pedestrian only" locations and make sure to gain speed before ramming their vehicles into the crowd in order to "achieve maximum carnage".
Vehicle attacks can be carried out by lone-wolf terrorists who are inspired by an ideology but who are not working within a specific political movement or group. Writing for ''The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'', Jacob Siegel suggests that the perpetrator of the 2014 Couture-Rouleau attack may be "the kind of terrorist the West could be seeing a lot more of in the future", a kind that he describes, following Brian Jenkins of the Rand Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
, as "stray dogs", rather than lone wolves, characterizing them as "misfits" who are "moved from seething anger to spontaneous deadly action" by exposure to Islamist propaganda. A 2014 propaganda video by ISIL
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
encouraged French sympathizers to use cars to run down civilians.
According to Clint Watts
Clint Watts is a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University and a Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow. He previously was an Infantry Branch (United States), infantry officer in the United State ...
, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an American think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that conducts research on geopolitics, international relations, and international security in the various regions of the world as well a ...
, where he is a senior fellow and expert on terrorism, the older model where members of groups like al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
would "plan and train together before going to carry out an attack, became defunct around 2005", due to increased surveillance by Western security agencies. Watts says that Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strik ...
, the American-born al-Qaeda imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
, as a key figure in this shift, addressing English-speakers in their language and urging them to "Do your own terrorism and stay in place."
Jamie Bartlett, who heads the Violence and Extremism Program at Demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming)
...
, a British think tank, explains that "the internet in the last few years has both increased the possibilities and the likelihood of lone-wolf terrorism," supplying isolated individuals with ideological motivation and technique. For authorities in Western countries, the difficulty is that even in a case like that of the perpetrator of the 2014 Couture-Rouleau attack, where Canadian police had identified the attacker, taken away his passport, and were working with his family and community to steer him away from jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
, vehicle attacks can be hard to prevent because, "it's very difficult to know exactly what an individual is planning to do before a crime is committed. We cannot arrest someone for thinking radical thoughts; it's not a crime in Canada."
According to Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting Inc., commonly known as Stratfor, is an American geopolitics publisher and consultancy founded in 1996. Stratfor's business model is to provide individual and enterprise subscriptions to Stratfor Worldview, its online public ...
, the American global intelligence firm, "while not thus far as deadly as suicide bombing
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
", this tactic could prove more difficult to prevent. No single group has claimed responsibility for the incidents.[Israel: Vehicle Attacks – A New Militant Tactic?. Stratfor Global Intelligence] Experts see a saving grace in the ignorance and incompetence of most lone-wolf terrorists, who often manage to murder very few people.
Protest encounters
Vehicular ramming has sometimes been advocated to attack protester
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...
s who block public roadways in the United States. Two police officers were suspended and fired in January and June 2016, respectively, for tweeting such advice about Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
rallies, which have sometimes been broken up by cars. North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
state legislator Keith Kempenich tried and failed to pass a law granting civil immunity to drivers who accidentally hit activists after his mother-in-law was stopped by Dakota Access Pipeline protesters, and Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
Senator Bill Ketron did likewise after a man hit an anti-Trump group. Similar legislation has been introduced in Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. After the white supremacist Unite the Right rally
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, ...
, in which an anti-fascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
protester was killed in a vehicle ramming attack, media outlets Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
and The Daily Caller
''The Daily Caller'' is a right-wing news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by now-Fox News host Tucker Carlson and political pundit Neil Patel in 2010. Launched as a "conservative answer to ''The Huffington Post'' ...
deleted videos which encouraged driving through crowds of protesters.
Protective measures
Security bollards are credited with minimizing damage and casualties in the 2007 Glasgow Airport attack
The Glasgow Airport attack was a terrorist ramming attack which occurred on 30 June 2007, at 15:11 BST, when a dark green Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven at the glass doors of the Glasgow Airport terminal and set ablaz ...
, and with preventing ramming in the 2014 Alon Shvut stabbing attack, leading the assailant to abandon his car and attack pedestrians waiting at a bus stop with a knife, after his effort to run them over was thwarted. However, Berlin's police chief, Klaus Kandt, argued that bollards would not have prevented the 2016 Berlin truck attack
On 19 December 2016, a Vehicle-ramming attack, truck was deliberately driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, leaving 12 people dead and 56 others injured. One of the victims was t ...
, and that the required security measures would be "varied, complex, and far from a panacea".
On 23 October 2014, the US National Institute of Building Sciences
The National Institute of Building Sciences is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests, and regulatory agencies to focus on the identif ...
updated its Building Design Guideline on ''Crash- and Attack-Resistant Models'' of bollard
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...
s, a guideline written to help professionals design bollards to protect facilities from vehicle operators, "who plan or carry out acts of property destruction, incite terrorism, or cause the deaths of civilian, industrial or military populations". The American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
recommends bollards as effective protection against car-ramming attacks.
In January 2018, it was announced by the then mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
, Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
, that the city planned to install 1,500 steel street barriers to prevent vehicle attacks. This came after the city's two vehicle-ramming attacks in 2017 killed nine people.
Münster has been planning to install security bollards in public areas in response to vehicle-ramming attacks in European cities, including the Berlin attack. While only selected locations can be protected this way, tight bends and restricted-width streets may also prevent a large vehicle getting speed before reaching a barrier.
Modern Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
-connected drive-by-wire
Drive by wire, DbW, by-wire, steer-by-wire, fly-by-wire or x-by-wire technology in the automotive or aviation industry is the use of electrical or electro-mechanical systems for performing vehicle functions traditionally achieved by mechanical link ...
cars can potentially be hacked remotely and used for such attacks. To demonstrate the severity of this type of attack, 2015 hackers remotely carjacked a Jeep from 10 miles away and drove it into a ditch. Measures for cybersecurity of automobiles to prevent such attacks are often criticized as being insufficient.
List of attacks
Terrorism
In chronological order:
* 1981 Iraqi embassy bombing, Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
(building ramming and exploding)
* 1982 IDF Headquarters bombing, Tyre (building ramming and exploding)
* 1983 US embassy bombing, Beirut
* 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, Beirut, Lebanon, (building ramming and exploding)
* 1983 Shin Bet Headquarters building, Tyre (building ramming and exploding)
* 1983 US embassy bombing, Kuweit
* 1984 US embassy bombing, Beirut
* 1987 Army camp bombing, Sri Lanka (building ramming and exploding)
* 1998 Temple of the Tooth attack
1998 Temple of the Tooth attack is an attack on the Temple of the Tooth Relic, located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The shrine, which is considered to be important to the Buddhists in Sri Lanka, houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha, and is also ...
, Sri Lanka (building ramming and exploding)
* 1999 Ibar Highway assassination attempt, FR Yugoslavia (assassination attempt)
* September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...
(planes flown into buildings)
* 2001 Azor attack, Israel (ramming people, mostly soldiers)
* 2001 Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly car bombing (building gate ramming and exploding and gunfire)
* 2002 Lyon car attack, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(building ramming and fire)
* 2004 Granby Colorado rampage (modified bulldozer)
* 2006 UNC SUV attack, University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(ramming people)
* 2007 Glasgow Airport attack
The Glasgow Airport attack was a terrorist ramming attack which occurred on 30 June 2007, at 15:11 BST, when a dark green Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven at the glass doors of the Glasgow Airport terminal and set ablaz ...
, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
(building ramming and detonating gas cylinders)
* 2008 Kashgar attack
The 2008 Kashgar attack () occurred on the morning of 4 August 2008 in the city of Kashgar in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang. According to Chinese government sources, it was a terrorist attack perpetrated by two men with suspected ties ...
, China (ramming people, stabbing, exploding)
* 2008 Jerusalem vehicular attack, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
(ramming vehicles and people)
* 2 July 2008 Jerusalem bulldozer attack, Israel (ramming people)
* 22 July 2008 Jerusalem bulldozer attack, Israel (ramming people)
* 2009 Jerusalem attack, Israel (ramming people)
* 2009 Jerusalem bulldozer attack, Israel (ramming people)
* 2011 Tel Aviv truck attack, Israel (ramming vehicles and people)
* 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack
The 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack was a combined vehicular assault and stabbing attack carried out at 01:40 (GMT+2) 29 August 2011 in which a Palestinian attacker stole an Israeli taxi cab and rammed it into a police checkpoint guarding the p ...
, Israel (ramming and stabbing)
* 2011 Kashgar attacks, China (ramming people, stabbing, exploding)
* May 2013 Murder of Lee Rigby
On the afternoon of 22 May 2013, a British Army soldier, Fusilier#United Kingdom, Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woo ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, (ramming and stabbing)
* 2013 Tiananmen Square attack, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(ramming people and bursting into flames)
* 2013 Iranian embassy bombing
* May 2014 Ürümqi attack, China (ramming and throwing bombs off the vehicle)
* 2014 Jerusalem tractor attack
A terrorist ramming attack occurred on 4 August 2014, when a man drove an excavator type of tractor out of a construction site, injuring several pedestrians and killing one man before ramming the tractor into a public bus, overturning the bus a ...
, Israel (ramming people and bus)
* 2014 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming attack
The 2014 Saint Jean sur Richelieu ramming attack was a terror car ramming that occurred in Quebec on October 20, 2014. Two Canadian Forces members were hit by a lone wolf terrorist, Martin Couture-Rouleau. Warrant officer Patrice Vincent died f ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
(ramming)
* October 2014 Jerusalem vehicular attack
On 22 October 2014, a Palestinian rammed his car into a crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill light rail station in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. The attack killed a three-month-old girl and a 22-year-old Ecuador ...
, Israel (ramming people)
* November 2014 Jerusalem vehicular attack
On 5 November 2014, in a terrorist ramming attack, a Hamas operative deliberately drove a van at high speed into a crowd of people waiting at the Shimon HaTzadik light rail station in the Arzei HaBira neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Attack
The pe ...
, Israel (ramming and hitting with a metal crowbar)
* 2014 Alon Shvut stabbing attack, West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
(failed ramming and stabbing)
* 2016 Nice truck attack, France (86 killed, ramming people and gunfire)
* 2016 Ohio State University attack, United States (ramming and stabbing)
* 2016 Berlin truck attack
On 19 December 2016, a Vehicle-ramming attack, truck was deliberately driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, leaving 12 people dead and 56 others injured. One of the victims was t ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(shooting truck driver and ramming people; 13 killed)
* 2017 Jerusalem truck attack, Israel (ramming people; 4 killed)
* January 2017 Melbourne car attack
On 20 January 2017, around 1:30 pm Time in Australia, AEDT on a busy Friday, a car was deliberately driven into pedestrians along Bourke Street in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. Six people were killed and t ...
, Australia (Ramming people, 6 killed).
* 2017 Westminster attack
On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster ...
, London, England, United Kingdom (ramming and stabbing; some victims were thrown off Westminster Bridge by the ramming; 5 killed)
* 2017 Stockholm truck attack
On 7 April 2017, a vehicle-ramming Islamist terrorist attack took place in central Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. A hijacked truck was deliberately driven into crowds along Drottninggatan (Queen Street) before being crashed into an Åhlé ...
, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
(ramming people; 5 killed)
* 2017 London Bridge attack
On 3 June 2017, a terrorist vehicle-ramming and stabbing took place in London, England. A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge, and then crashed on Borough High Street, just south of the River Thames. The van's three occ ...
, England, United Kingdom (ramming and stabbing; 8 killed)
* 2017 Finsbury Park attack, London, England, United Kingdom (ramming people; 1 killed)
* June 2017 Champs-Élysées car ramming attack, Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France (ramming a police car; 1 attacker killed)
* 2017 Levallois-Perret attack, Levallois-Perret
Levallois-Perret () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies some from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated ...
, France (ramming soldiers; none killed)
* 2017 Barcelona attacks, Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
(ramming, stabbing and bombings; 16 killed 152 injured)
* 2017 Charlottesville attack, during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...
, Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, United States (ramming people; 1 killed)
* 2017 New York City truck attack (ramming cyclists and runners; 8 killed)
* 2018 Terrorist attack against cyclists in Tajikistan
The terrorist attack against cyclists in Tajikistan happened on July 29, 2018 ( UTC+05:00). Four Western touring cyclists were killed while cycling in the Danghara District, and two more were injured after five Islamist militants rammed them with ...
(ramming and stabbing)
* 2018 Westminster car attack
On 14 August 2018, three people were injured when a silver Ford Fiesta hit them near the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The car then went on to crash into the separation barrier of the pavement situated between St Margaret Street / ...
(ramming pedestrians and cyclists before crashing into security barriers; none killed)
* 2019 Pulwama attack
The 2019 Pulwama attack occurred on 14 February 2019, when a convoy of vehicles carrying Indian security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethapora in the Pulwama district o ...
* 2019 Tokyo car attack
* 2020 Colombes car attack
* 2021 Yangon military vehicle attack, Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
* 2022 Beersheba attack (ramming and stabbing)
* November 2022 Ariel attack
Suspected terrorism
* 2017 Edmonton attack
The 2017 Edmonton attack was a stabbing and vehicle-ramming attack that occurred in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on September 30, 2017. Edmonton police constable Mike Chernyk was hit and stabbed by 30-year-old Abdulahi Sharif, who then struck four ...
, Canada (ramming + stabbing; none killed)
* December 2017 Melbourne car attack
On 21 December 2017, at 4:41 pm AEDT, a driver rammed pedestrians with his car at the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, killing one person and injuring seventeen others, including himself. ...
(ramming and stabbing, 1 killed)
* 2019 Taneytown, Maryland (ramming building)
* 2020 Negohot
Negohot ( he, נגוהות) is an Israeli settlement in the southern Hebron Hills of the West Bank. Located on a hill 700 metres above sea level to the west of the Hebron area, it is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdi ...
. 1 Israeli soldier was wounded, and the assailant was shot dead.
* 2021 London, Ontario truck attack
On June 6, 2021, a man Vehicle-ramming attack, rammed a pickup truck into Islam in Canada, Muslim Pakistani Canadians, Pakistani Canadian pedestrians at an intersection (road), intersection in London, Ontario, Canada. Four people were killed, an ...
: A 20-year-old man rammed with his truck against random Muslim pedestrians, killing a family of four and wounding a boy. The attacker was arrested for murder, charged with a hate crime, and investigated for terrorism.
*2021 Lakhimpur Kheri massacre
Lakhimpur Kheri incident was a vehicle-ramming attack and mob lynching incident during farmers’ protest against the three farm laws passed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Union Government. It happened on 3 October 2021 at Banbirpur ...
: Eight killed in farmers' protest in Lakhimpur Kheri district
Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest Districts of Uttar Pradesh, district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, Lakhimpur.
Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of ...
; Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra, was allegedly driving one of the three cars.
*2022 Strépy-Bracquegnies car crash
In the morning of 20 March 2022, a motorist drove a car through a crowd celebrating Carnival in Strépy-Bracquegnies, La Louvière, Belgium. Six people were killed and around 40 were wounded, with ten of the wounded people having very serious ...
.
Other
* 1953 Elias Antonio case, Syrian merchant who killed one person and wounded up to 29 others in Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when ramming his car into a carnival block
* 1964 Taipei attack (ramming people)
* 1973 Olga Hepnarová case, Czechoslovakian woman using a truck to go on a rampage; 8 dead, 12 injured.
* 1973 Plains attack (ramming people)
* 1974 Eugen Grigore case, Romanian man drives cargo truck into Gypsy nomad encampment; 24 dead, around 50 injured
* 1980 Wantagh attack (ramming people)
* 1982 Beijing attack (ramming people). 5 dead, 19 injured.
* 1982 Langfang attack (ramming and stabbing). 13 dead, 17 injured.
* 1983 Changde massacre (ramming people). Deadliest vehicular rampage killing in history. 21 dead, 29 injured.
* 1983 Douglas Crabbe
Douglas John Edward Crabbe (born 1947) is an Australian murderer currently imprisoned in Perth, Western Australia, Perth for a multiple murder which occurred when he drove his 25-tonne Mack Trucks, Mack truck into the crowded bar of a motel at t ...
drove a 25-tonne Mack truck into the crowded bar of a motel at the base of Uluru
Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially Gazette#Gazette as a verb, gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone geological formation, formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the ...
on 18 August 1983. Five people were killed, and sixteen were seriously injured.
* 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, Lebanon (building ramming and exploding)
* 1984 Los Angeles attack (ramming people)
* 1993 Jacarepaguá attack (ramming people)
* 1995 New York City attack (ramming and stabbing).
* 1995 Shawn Nelson case, a plumber using a stolen tank to go on a rampage
* 1998 Putian 26-day spree ramming.
* 1999 Emiko Taira (mother of Japanese pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
singer Namie Amuro
Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...
) and her husband Tatsunobu Taira were walking along a road near National Highway No. 58 in Ōgimi
is a village located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
As of October 2016, the village has an estimated population of 3,024 and a population density of 51 persons per km². The total area is .
Several censuses have establishe ...
, Okinawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city o ...
, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
when Tatsunobu's brother Kenji Taira backed his car into a telephone pole and ran over the couple on 17 March 1999. Emiko Taira was killed. Kenji Taira later committed suicide.
* 1999 Shimonoseki Station massacre (ramming and stabbing)
*2001 The Hamptons rampage, socialite Lizzie Grubman
Elizabeth Grubman (born January 30, 1971) is an American publicist, manager and socialite. In 2002, Grubman served 38 days in jail for an incident where she intentionally backed a Mercedes SUV into a crowd, injuring 16 people.
Early life
She is t ...
rams into a crowd outside a club with SUV (16 injured).
* 2001 Kampala attack (ramming people)
* 2001 Dalian attack (ramming people). 1 dead, and 18 were injured.
* 2001 Shenzhen attack (ramming and stabbing). 8 dead and 4−7 injured.
* 2002 New York City attack (ramming people).
* 2002 San Cristóbal Ecatepec attack (ramming people).
* 2002 Murder of David Lynn Harris David Lynn Harris was an Americans, American orthodontist who owned a chain of offices along with his wife, Clara Suarez Harris. The chain was particularly successful, and the couple was able to afford an upscale home and lifestyle in Friendswood, T ...
* 2003 Düsseldorf attack (ramming people)
* 2003 A psychologically unstable person kills one and hurts eighteen in Stockholm's old town. A second death later occurs in a hospital.
* 2004 Marvin Heemeyer
Marvin John Heemeyer (October 28, 1951 – June 4, 2004) was an American automobile muffler repair shop owner who, following a dispute with town officials, demolished numerous buildings with a modified bulldozer in Granby, Colorado, on June 4, ...
case, a welder using an armored bulldozer to destroy buildings
* 2005 Las Vegas attack (ramming people)
* 2006 Dublin attack (ramming people)
* 2006 Berlin attack (ramming people during soccer championship, found insane)
* 2006 Shenzhen attack (ramming and stabbing)
* 2006 San Francisco SUV rampage, 2006 case of a paranoid schizophrenic man from Afghanistan using an SUV to go on a rampage
* 2007 Berrwiller attack (ramming people)
* 2008 Akihabara massacre, mass murder using a truck and a dagger
* 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family (ramming people, attempt to attack the Dutch royals including the reigning monarch; 8 killed)
* 2010 Zhengzhou attack (ramming people). 6 dead, 20 injured.
* 2010 Hebei tractor rampage, 2010 mass murder using a bucket loader
* 2011 Changsha attack (ramming people). 5 dead, 5 injured.
* 2012 Pune attack (ramming people)
* 2012 Zhangjiajie attack (ramming people). 6 dead, 9 injured.
* 2012 Cardiff Hit and Run Rampage Matthew Tvrdon, under a psychotic episode, got angry with a woman and began ramming her and numerous pedestrians with his van over eight miles for 30 minutes, killing Karina Menzies and injuring 12 others. He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and is detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.
* 2012 Fengning attack (ramming people)
* 2013 Tumon
* 2013 Venice, Los Angeles
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
(one dead)
* 2014 Venezuelan protests
In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods attributed to economic policies such as strict ...
, several cases of vehicle ramming during opposition protests by government supporters.
* 2014 Isla Vista killings
The 2014 Isla Vista killings were a series of misogynistic terror attacks in Isla Vista, California. On the evening of May 23, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger
killed six people and injured fourteen others—by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle ramm ...
; Vehicle ramming attack, Stabbings, Shootings. 7 Dead.
* 2014 Sopot
Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...
attack, Poland (ramming people)
* 2014 Taipei attack against Presidential Office Building, Taiwan
* 2014 Huaiwangtan attack (ramming and stabbing)
* 2014 Balipo attack (ramming and stabbing)
* 2014 Dijon attack, France (ramming people)
* 2014 Nantes attack, France (ramming people)
*2014 Roppongi
is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...
(Japan) Vehicle ramming attack(using a bicycle) and Violent Deed
Counter-Racist Action Collective(c.r.a.c) members attacking against Zaitokukai
Zaitokukai, full name , is an ultra-nationalist and far-right extremist political organization in Japan, which calls for an end to state welfare and alleged privileges afforded to Zainichi Koreans. It has been described by the National Police A ...
demonstration.)
* 2015 Graz attack, mass murder using an SUV and a knife
* 2015 Weifang attack (ramming people). 5 dead, 21 injured.
* 2015 Shuozhou attack (ramming people)
* 2016 Yichun attack (ramming people). 4 dead, 18 injured.
* 2016 Kalamazoo bicycle crash, 5 dead
* 2016 Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...
road rage
* 2017 Venezuelan protests
The 2017 Venezuelan protests were a series of protests occurring throughout Venezuela. Protests began in January 2017 after the arrest of multiple opposition leaders and the cancellation of dialogue between the opposition and Nicolás Maduro's g ...
, several cases of vehicle rammings during opposition protests by security forces or government supporters, including the killing of Paúl Moreno.
* January 2017 Melbourne car attack
On 20 January 2017, around 1:30 pm Time in Australia, AEDT on a busy Friday, a car was deliberately driven into pedestrians along Bourke Street in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. Six people were killed and t ...
in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in which six people were killed and 36 injured.
* 2017 Balneário Camboriú road rage
* 2017 Times Square car attack
* 2017 Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
attack by mentally disturbed German student
* 2017 Müllrose
Müllrose ''(Lower Sorbian: Miłoraz)'' is a town in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Oder-Spree Canal, 15 km southwest of Frankfurt (Oder). A part of the city is located in the Schlaube Valley Nature ...
, Germany, drug addict kills two cops while fleeing in stolen car after stabbing his grandmother to death
* 2017 Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, attack, failed car-ramming in Belgium
* 2017 Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...
, a car rammed into a student protest: 13 injured, one dead.
* 2017 Sandy, Utah attack
On June 6, 2017, in Sandy, Utah, Jeremy Patterson rammed his truck into a vehicle and opened fire on the riders, killing two and injuring two before killing himself. This was the result of an apparent domestic dispute between Patterson and his ...
, car-ramming and shooting in Sandy, Utah
Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population of Sandy was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. The population is currently estimated ...
* 2017 Jingjiang car attack (ramming people). 4 dead, 9 injured.
* 2017 Columbia attack (ramming people)
* July 2017 Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
attack, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, ramming people
* August 2017 Helsinki attack, Finland, failed ramming
* 2017 Chomutov incident, the Czech Republic, in which a driver was shot dead by an armed citizen after driving into a group of people
* 2017 Sept-Sorts car attack, France, ramming a pizzeria, killing a schoolgirl
*2017 Marseille van attack, France. A van rammed into two bus stops killing one woman and injuring another.
* December 2017 car attack in Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, with one dead, four injured, three seriously.
* February 2018 car attack in Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, with two injured, in suburban Mullaloo.
* 2018 Münster vehicle ramming (ramming crowd at an outdoor café
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
, killing four and injuring 23; perpetrator then took his own life)
* 2018 Toronto van attack
A domestic terrorist vehicle-ramming attack occurred on April 23, 2018, when a rented van was driven along Yonge Street through the North York City Centre business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The driver, Alek Minassian, targeted pedes ...
(ramming people; 11 killed and 15 injured)
* 2018 Gravesend attack (ramming people)
* 2018 Bessemer City, NC vehicle ramming
* 2018 Yantai attack (ramming people).
* 2018 Liuzhou attack (ramming and stabbing). 6 dead, 12 injured.
* 2018 Moscow attack (ramming people).
* 2018 Mishui vehicle attack (ramming people at a square, killing 15 people and injuring 43 others; perpetrator sentenced to death)
* 2018 Ningbo attack (ramming and stabbing). 3 dead, 15 injured.
* 2018 Brăila attack, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. Attacker was under effects of drugs.
* 2018 Newport Wales Hit and Run 4 injured on 29 April when a teen driver smashed into a crowd outside a nightclub claiming to try to stop a brawl, then fled and set his car on fire. He was found guilty of two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, while two other teens pled guilty for their role in instigating the fight which preceded the attack.
* 2018 Huludao vehicle ramming (ramming people). 6 dead, 17 injured.
* 2019 Zaoyang car attack (ramming and stabbing). 6 dead, 8 injured.
* 2019 Oberhausen, Bottrop and Essen car attack (ramming people). 8 injured.
*August 2020 attack: Iraqi chases motor cyclists on Berlin's A100; trial for attempted murder to begin April 15.
* 2020 July 6 Seattle: During a protest against police brutality and the murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
1 dead and 1 injured
* 2020 Henstedt-Ulzburg
Henstedt-Ulzburg is a municipality in the district of Segeberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Geography
The municipality of Henstedt-Ulzburg is situated approximately 30 km north of Hamburg and 13 km north of Norderstedt. Currently i ...
ramming attack
* 2020 Trier attack
At 13:45 on 1 December 2020, a man rammed pedestrians with an SUV at high speed in a pedestrian zone in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, killing six people—a 45-year-old man and his infant daughter; a 77-year-old man; and three women aged ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Five people were killed and 30 were injured after a drunk man, who suffered from mental health problems, rammed civilians on a street.
* 2021 Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
ramming attack, one pedestrian killed and five others wounded. Driver arrested.
* 2021 Novara ramming, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. Driver intentionally rammed workers protesting outside a market. One worker was killed, and two others were wounded.
*2021 Lakhimpur-Kheri Massacre in India. A Convoy of BJP ministers mowed down four protesting farmers. In retaliation, farmers killed four people from the convoy.
Motive not yet determined
* December 2017 Melbourne car attack
On 21 December 2017, at 4:41 pm AEDT, a driver rammed pedestrians with his car at the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, killing one person and injuring seventeen others, including himself. ...
in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in which 18 were injured and one person died.
* 2019 Tokyo car attack (ramming and stabbing and attempted kerosene arson attacks). 8 people were injured by vehicle ramming, with another person also injured after the attacker struck him while getting out of the car. The suspect claims that the attack was in retaliation for the execution of Aum Shinrikyo
, formerly , is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
The group says tha ...
doomsday cult members.
* 2020 Volkmarsen ramming attack: On 24 February 2020, a 29-year-old man rammed his car against civilians at a carnival parade in Volkmarsen
Volkmarsen is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in northern Hesse, Germany. It is home to 6840 residents.
Geography
Location
Volkmarsen lies on the northern edge of the ''Waldecker Tafel'' (Waldecker Shield (geology)) where it flatten ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, wounding 122 people. The motive behind the attack is unknown.
* 2021 United States Capitol car attack: On 2 April 2021, a car ramming occurred outside the United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
, killing a police officer and injuring another. Police shot and killed the perpetrator shortly after.
* Killing of Deona M. Knajdek: A driver killed one person and injured three on June 13, 2021, in the U.S. city of Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
.
*June 2021 Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
Pride Parade: A pickup truck driver killed one person and injured another on 19 June 2021. All three individuals were connected with the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus.
*June 2021 Show Low, Arizona Bicycle Race: A driver struck 7 cyclists. The driver fled the scene and was pursued and shot by police.
*2021 Waukesha Christmas parade attack
On November 21, 2021, Darrell E. Brooks Jr. drove a sport utility vehicle (SUV) through the annual Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States, killing six people and injuring sixty-two others.
Brooks pleaded not guilty to six coun ...
: Darrell Brooks, of Milwaukee, broke through barricades with a red SUV and drove through the annual Waukesha Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring 62 others. Brooks was charged with 81 felony and two misdemeanor counts.
* February 2022 "A 42yr old male is facing charges after driving through a group of protesters that were part of the Freedom Convoy
A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy (french: Convoi de la liberté, links=no) by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created t ...
at the Legislative grounds," the Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
Police tweeted Saturday. "4 adult males were struck."
Notes
See also
* Ram-raiding
Ram-raiding is a type of burglary in which a heavy vehicle is driven into the windows or doors of a building, usually a department store or jeweller's shop, to allow the perpetrators to loot it.
Overview
The term came into widespread use after ...
* Vehicular homicide
Vehicular homicide is a crime that involves the death of a person other than the driver as a result of either criminally negligent or murderous operation of a motor vehicle.
In cases of criminal negligence, the defendant is commonly charged w ...
* Vehicular suicide
Vehicular suicide is the use of a motor vehicle to intentionally cause one's own death.
Suffocation
Suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning may be attempted by running the engine in an enclosed garage, or by piping the exhaust gas into the driv ...
* Mass murder
Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...
* Stabbing as a terrorist tactic
Stabbing attacks, which have been used as a terrorist tactic for thousands of years, became an increasingly common form of terrorist attack on random civilians in the 21st century, in particular during the 2010s and 2020s.
Like the vehicle-ramming ...
* List of rampage killers (vehicular homicide)
This list of rampage killers contains those cases where only vehicles were used to attack people. Since it may be quite difficult to distinguish accidents, or cases of reckless driving from those incidents where the driver, or pilot, had the inten ...
References
External links
*
In Harm's Way: Vehicle rammings against protesters are on the rise, but the justice system often sides with drivers
- ''Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' investigation
{{Vehicle-ramming attacks
Car crime
Murders by motor vehicle
Terrorism tactics
Traffic collisions
Traffic law
Terrorism by method
Articles containing video clips
Killings by type
Road safety
Road transport