HVM stands for Hostile Vehicle Mitigation, and it’s an area of security that has grown in recent years in the wake of an increase in cars, vans and lorries being used to attack innocent people.
These include lorry-borne attacks on pedestrians in Nice and Berlin, cases of cars being deliberately driven into people taking part in street parades in the USA and the horrific examples of a vehicle mounting the pavement across Westminster Bridge in London and targeting passers-by.
In all cases, the most alarming aspect is how easy these attacks are to carry out – simply by buying, borrowing or stealing a vehicle, assailants have a deadly weapon at their disposal which they can use to hurt others, for whatever political or personal cause they choose.
Using a vehicle to attack
This is a VAW (Vehicle As a Weapon) attack and they are attractive to terrorists and other attackers because they do not require specialist bomb-making expertise or military training but can cause multiple casualties.
VAWs are also often used as the first stage in a layered attack, where the assailant uses the vehicle to target people and follows up with a marauding attack phase, leaving the vehicle and using a gun or bladed weapon.
Alternatively, vehicles can be used to carry explosive devices or can be used to transport attackers or weapons to the place where they take direct action.
It stands to reason that, if vehicles can be prevented from areas in which they can do damage – such as outside the front of a building or an open space where people are gathering – then people and property can be safeguarded.
And hence, Hostile Vehicle Mitigation – a package of measures that includes security risk assessments, planning, design and deployment of specialist security HVM devices.
From bollards to planters
HVM security products has been growing in recent years and now encompasses items such as traffic calming measures, bollards, reinforced planters and barriers, all of which can be strategically placed to prevent vehicles’ progress but without impeding pedestrians or cyclists.
There are very many different types of each product – and here at Securiscape we have bollards, both static and moveable in the case of our ingenious Glide Bollards systems, street planters and pedestrian guardrail systems – but what links them all is the extent to which they have been tested.
This process requires that they are put through their paces at an independent test house, such as MIRA in Leicestershire, using specific vehicles driven at specific speeds with clearly defined angles of attack.
If they succeed, then they are certified as a ‘Rated Vehicle Security Barrier’ that has undergone formal vehicle impact testing and carries a rating such as PAS68 and IWA-14, which is the International Workshop Agreement specifying the essential impact performance required from a vehicle security barrier.
Safety doesn’t need to be ugly
Another important consideration is the extent to which the device is integrated into the public realm.
Safety doesn’t need to be ugly! Which is why modern devices often have dual functions – for example a bench that doubles as a barrier, or a street planter that supports an attractive floral display, or bollards and guardrails that are designed to blend into the local area – ensuing that HVM installations do not detract from the street scene and instead make the environment pleasant to be in, as well as safer all round.
