Would Geo-Fencing Tech Stop Terrorist Vehicle Attacks?

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Geo-fencing technologies that use the global positioning system (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define geographical boundaries have various applications. Now they are offered as an anti-terrorist solution.

Digital force fields are being created to stop terrorists from attacking high-profile buildings.

Geo-fields created around certain buildings which will stop unauthorised cars from gaining entry. Ministers in Britain are considering the implementation of this technology. Research is being carried out to find out how car manufacturers can shut down and stop vehicles which have been hijacked after a series of terror attacks in Britain.  

According to dailymail.co.uk, the electronic boundaries will be connected to satellites to create a force field and only cars with a connected on-board computer will be able to gain access. It is hoped cars without the monitor will be slowed down or rejected from crossing the perimeter.  

Experts believe this could prevent terror incidents such as those at Westminster, London Bridge and Finsbury Park.   

This innovative technology is already being implemented across cities in Europe. Sweden has begun adapting cars to the technology in response to a terror attack in April which saw four people killed after a truck ploughed into pedestrians in Stockholm.   

Research is being carried out by the UK Department for Transport to determine whether devices can shut down cars or lorries when they have been hijacked.

Car manufacturers Scania and Volvo are involved in trials of the technology. The Swedish government said in a statement that geo-fencing was a ‘technical solution to enable only authorised vehicles to be driven within a geographically defined area’.

It could also be used to limit vehicle speeds, officials said, with demonstrations of the system being made next year.

The Times reported a British company is looking at how to use telematics — black box-style devices — to effectively shut down a car or lorry when it has been hijacked.

Trak Global Group, based in Cheshire, is working on a driver ID mechanism that links the black box with the owner’s smartphone, disabling the vehicle if the phone is not present. A separate system could also send out an alert to emergency services in the event of a hijacking or vehicle theft.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport told The Times: ‘Departments across government have been working together with the police and the security service to explore what more can be done to prevent the malicious use of vehicles as a weapon. As part of this, the Department for Transport is exploring what role potential vehicle safety technologies can play in mitigating this. This work is at an early stage.’