- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
Months before the deadly New Orleans vehicle attack on New Year’s Day, the city modeled scenarios for how an attacker could enter Bourbon Street at various intersections in a crew-cab Ford F-150 similar to the one used to kill 14 people and injure dozens more.
Engineers found such a pickup could enter the crowded tourist strip at speeds ranging from 12 to 70 mph - and yet city officials are now installing new street barriers that can only withstand 10-mph impacts, according to an April city-contracted engineering analysis and city bid documents reviewed by Reuters.
Those new barriers, known as “bollards,” had not yet been installed on Bourbon Street on New Year’s but are planned to be completed by the Feb. 9 NFL Super Bowl in New Orleans. The documents reviewed by Reuters, which have not been previously reported, make clear that the system won’t be able to prevent vehicle attacks at moderate-to-high speeds.
Well, they were only planning for a built-in, easy way to block off the road temporarily. They didn’t have a reason, at the time, to need to plan against a terrorist ramming the crowd with a vehicle. Just something better than temporary mobile barricades needing to be moved in and out basically every night.
On the other hand, this entire scenario shows how ridiculously and needlessly large and dangerous modern trucks are, like the F150 used here. So naturally, that aspect will be completely ignored by the media and politicians.