Before I start, I want to post links to Adrastos’ post about the attack in his home city on New Year’s Day, and Cassandra’s post about that attack and the incident outside of Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas. My post today is related to the terror attack in New Orleans but from a slightly different angle – the weapon of terror used.
In this case, the weapon of choice was a large pickup truck. There have been multiple such attacks in the last 10 years and I would not be shocked if we see an increase in these attacks. The reason why I believe we will see an increase in attacks using vehicles is because, over the last 10-15 years, our auto companies have been producing large-scale weapons.
Pedestrian deaths are up 68% since 2011, according to the latest available data from 2022. A study released in 2023 found that large vehicles like pickups and big SUVs, very popular among Americans, are 45% deadlier than regular cars when involved in pedestrian accidents.
The fronts of these behemoths are a whopping 55 inches in some models. This is head level for a child, and an average-sized adult will take the brunt of the hit in areas of the body that include vital organs.
With all this in mind, I would imagine that would-be terrorists are becoming more and more aware of the deadly weapons being sold at their local car dealers. Or in the case of the New Orleans attacker, from their friendly neighborhood online auto rental agent.
I can easily see this becoming a front in the culture war if there are more ramming-style terror attacks. It would likely raise awareness of non-terrorism pedestrian deaths that would for normal people increase concerns that the vehicles are unnecessarily large and almost comically dangerous. But for MAGAs, even the deaths of children would not be enough.
These are people who proved during COVID that they simply do not care about their fellow Americans’ lives if it means even the slightest adjustment to their perceived rights. And by perceived rights, I mean do whatever they want at all times no matter the cost to others. Again, we saw this during COVID, they showed us what they are.
Part of their twisted and very selfish concept of freedom means enforcing this right to do whatever the fuck they want through threats and intimidation. Let’s face it, a lot of Americans buy these giant vehicles as intimidation tools to bully other drivers out of their way. I will never forget back in the late 90s when these vehicles first became popular, a seemingly very nice staff assistant in my office declared that she and her husband bought a Chevy Suburban because “people know they better get out of her way or else.” When someone asked her if she was joking, she just said, matter-of-fact, “I’m higher up and bigger than them and I’m tired of slow-poke drivers.”
Since then, I’ve seen dark shit like an F-150 tailgating a disabled student van and the OG wingermobile, a Hummer, tailgating a senior transport vehicle. I admittedly am not a slow driver and have to catch myself from going too fast, but I myself have found myself with a raging big pickup driver on my tail even while going 10 over the speed limit. I live in an area with a lot of deer and if a deer were to run out in front of my crossover, MAGA Guy tailgating me could end up killing me. I am sure he wouldn’t really care all that much.
So since they are already weapons of terror on a small scale, it should not surprise anyone that they are used for large-scale terror attacks. A lot of Americans want these big vehicles and love them like a family member, and if we see an uptick in big pickup truck terror attacks, well, I wouldn’t count on those folks being rational and selfless.
The last word goes to Carly Pearce.
