Crime Prevention Research Center

Terrorist vehicle attacks with 4 or more fatalities are still relatively rare, though they are becoming more frequent. Radical Muslims committed 83% of mass public attacks committed up through the end of 2017.  Including attacks where fewer than 4 victims were killed, 73% of all vehicle attacks were carried out by Muslims.  We have previously done comparisons on rates of mass public shootings and bombings around the world, and specifically comparisons between the US and Europe.

Some of these attacks rank among the worst attacks in terms of deaths for some countries.  The van attack in Toronto in April 2018 was the worst mass killing in Canada since at least 1989 and the third worst massacre in Canada since 1880. The Nice truck attack in 2016 was the third worst massacre in France since the end of World War II (one was the shooting attack at the concert hall in Paris in November 2015 and the other was a deliberate plane crash in 2015).

While there have been 8 previous vehicle attacks in the United States since 2000, the attack in New York City on October 31st, 2017 was the first one with at least 4 fatalities.  However, the 2015 attack in Las Vegas had more total casualties (including injuries).

Year	Month	Day	Location	Weapons	Deaths by Vehicle	Deaths	Injuries	Islamic?	Notes
2018	April	23	Toronto, Canada	Van	10	10	15	No	may have done it because women wouldn’t have sex with him
2017	October	31	New York City, New York	pickup truck	8	8	15	Islamic	ISIS
2017	August	17	Barcelona, Spain	Van	14	14	120+	Islamic	ISIS?
2017	June	3	London, UK	Van, knives, guns	3* Updated	8(3 vehicle, 5 stabbed)	48	Islamic	ISIS
2017	April	7	Stockholm,   Sweden	Truck	5	5	~15	Islamic	ISIS
2017	March	22	London, UK	Car, knife	4	5 (4 car, 1 knife)	49	Islamic
2017	January	20	Melbourne, Australia	Car	6	6	36	No	Insane
2017	January	8	East Jerusalem	Truck	4	4	17	Islamic
2016	December	19	Berlin, Germany	Truck, pistol, knife	12	12	56	Islamic	ISIS
2016	July	14	Nice, France	Truck, pistol	86	86	434	Islamic	ISIS
2014	May	22	Xinjiang, China	SUV, bomb	39	39	90+	Islamic
2012	January	25	Pune, India	Bus	9	9	27	Islamic
2010	August	1	Nanzuo, China	Tractor	17	17	19	No	Drunken rampage
2009	April	30	Apeldoorn, Netherlands	Car	7	7	10	No	deliberate attack to kill people
2008	November	5	Zhuhai, China	Car	5	5	19	No
2001	October	1	Srinagar, India	Car	38	38	unknown	Islamic
2001	February	14	Azur, Israel	Bus	8	8	10	Islamic	Palestinian

 

Other cases with fewer than 4 people killed.

Sunnyvale, California Department of Public Safety says 34-year-old Isaiah Joel Peoples intentionally injured eight people on April 24, 2019.

Year	Month	Day	Location	Weapons	Deaths by Vehicle	Deaths	Injuries	Islamic?	Notes
2018	August	15	London, UK	car	0	0	2	Islamic	ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack
2018	April	7	Munster, Germay	Van/minibus described differently	2	2	20	No	psychological problems, also had an AK47
2017	December	21	Melbourne, Australia	SUV	0	0	19	No	Insane, “deliberate act,” but no evidence of terrorist links
2017	October	1	Edmonton, Canada	U-Haul truck	0	0	5	Islamic	ISIS
2017	August	18	Cambrils, Spain	Van	0	0	7	Islamic	ISIS
2017	August	12	Charlottesville, Virginia	Car	1	1	19	No	White Supremacist
2017	August	9	Paris, France		0	0	6	Islamic	ISIS
2017	August	19	London, UK		1	1	11	No	hatred of Muslims
2017	June	19	London, UK	Van	1	1	9	No	Attack on a Mosque
2017	May	18	New York City	Car	1	1	20		suicide
2016	November	28	Columbus, Ohio	Car, knife	0	0	13	Islamic
2015	December	20	Las Vegas	Car	1	1	37		ruled out terrorism but driver acted deliberately
2015	June	25	Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France	Knife, van	1	1	2	Islamic	ISIS
2015	June	20	Graz, Austria	Car, knife	3	3	36		mental illness
2015	April	30	Venice, California	Car	1	1	17		wanted to run down a drug dealer who he believed had ripped off his friend
2014	December	22	Place Royal, France	Van	1	1	9	Islamic
2014	December	21	Dijon, France	Car	0	0	11	Islamic
2014	November	10	Alon Shvut, Israel	Car, Knife	0	3 (3 Knife, 0 Car)	0	Islamic
2014	November	5	Jerusalem, Israel	Van	3	3	13	Islamic	Hamas
2014	October	22	East Jerusalem	Car	2	2	7	Islamic	Hamas
2014	October	20	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Canada	Car	1	1	1	Islamic
2014	August	4	Jerusalem, Israel	Tractor	1	1	5	Islamic
2013	October	28	Beijing, China	Car, bomb	2	2 (+3 others dead in car)	38	Islamic
2013	May	22	London, UK	Car	1	1		Islamic
2011	August	29	Tel Aviv, Israel	Car	0	0	8	Islamic
2008	September	22	Jerusalem, Israel	Car	0	0	19	Islamic	Hamas
2008	July	2	Jerusalem, Israel	Vehicle with front-end loader	3	3	30+	Islamic
2008	June	8	Tokyo, Japan	Truck, Dagger	3	5 (3 Truck, 2 Dagger)	10 (2 Truck, 8 Dagger)	“I came to Akihabara to kill people,”
2007	June	30	Glasgow Airport, Scotland	Car with propane canisters	0	0	5	Islamic
2006	August	30	San Francisco	SUV	1	1	17		deliberate attack to kill people
2006	March	3	Chapel Hill, NC	SUV	0	0	9	Islamic
2002	March	30	Lyon, France	Two cars	0	0	0	Islamic

There are also a lot of car accidents that weren’t conscious attempts to attack people.

Stillwater, Oklahoma, October 24, 2015: Four people were killed and more than 40 injured when a drunk woman drove into a homecoming parade at Oklahoma State University.

CPRC original research, International Comparisons, mass public killings non-shootings

By johnrlott

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