When drivers intentionally use their vehicles against bystanders, it\u0027s the bluntest of weapons being deployed against the softest of targets.
Such attacks are similar to the scourge of mass shootings, but they have a chilling new dimension. Whether in a big city or a small town, it is nearly impossible to defend against a truck taking aim at civilians.. But fatalities are usually a result of carelessness, negligence, distraction or failure to follow safety rules. When drivers intentionally use their vehicles against bystanders, it’s the bluntest of weapons being deployed against the softest of targets. We are all vulnerable.
Mass shootings are typically followed by calls for stricter gun controls. The 1989 femicides at Montreal’s École Polytechnique were a catalyst for the laws in force in Canada today. Such regulations do work. If you look at the terrifying ubiquity of gun violence in the U.S., where second-amendment rights are sacrosanct, there’s just no comparison to the much lower rates in Canada, Australia or other countries with more robust restrictions.
It’s easier to justify limits on lethal weapons, even if hunters and sport shooters use them legitimately. How do you curb access to something most people have — be it a pickup truck, van, car or SUV? It would be about as effective as outlawing baseball bats or knives.Article content You can pedestrianize some zones and erect concrete crash barriers around crowded public spaces, like festival or concert sites. But you can’t do that on every street, everywhere that people and vehicles share the road. It’s another reason to keep looking over our shoulders on the sidewalk.
Transport Minister François Bonnardel suggested suspending the licences of drivers experiencing mental distress, then backtracked. How realistic would that be when so many Quebecers struggle to access mental health support — and when theBesides, mental health problems alone are not necessarily a predictor that someone will turn a vehicle into a killing machine, as we saw in Toronto and London. And there is no mechanism to evaluate drivers for radicalization.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Multiple injuries reported after vehicle hits pedestrians in Quebec town of AmquiSveral people hurt after vehicle plows into pedestrians in Quebec town of Amqui
Read more »
Injuries reported after vehicle hits pedestrians in eastern Quebec town of AmquiJUST IN: Police say people have been seriously injured after a vehicle plowed into pedestrians who were walking beside a road in Amqui, in Quebec's Bas-St-Laurent region.
Read more »
At least two dead after vehicle plows into pedestrians in Amqui, QuebecThe driver is being questioned by the Sûreté du Québec.
Read more »
Two dead, several injured after vehicle hits pedestrians in Quebec town of AmquiA 38-year-old man turned himself in to police and was arrested on suspicion of committing a fatal hit and run. Investigators are still trying to determine whether he was acting deliberately
Read more »