Once again, an angry driver has used his vehicle as a battering ram to gain entry to a government building. A Utah man, angry that his driving license had been suspended as a result of a DUI, decided to lodge his complaint by lodging his RV in the front doors of the Utah State licensing office in West Valley City, Utah. He then shot himself while inside his vehicle.
For video and photos and a full report, please see the coverage from KSTU Fox 13 in Salt Lake City by clicking on this LINK
This blog (and other articles that I have written or interviews that I have done) have many times referred to such accidents as being a very real and ongoing threat. Angry drivers crash into hotel lobbies to complain about their bill, they crash their way into court houses because they think they have been treated unfairly, and they crash into divorce attorney's offices because they feel that they have been profoundly victimized. Other drivers have crashed into stores to try and injure their wife or girlfriend, they have crashed into stores simply to try and hurt people, and sometimes there does not seem to be any reason at all.
Knowing that this risk is real, simple prevention seems to be prudent to protect employees and the public. Risk management principles are very clear -- if you cannot prevent the bad behavior, prevent the person behaving badly from being able to drive their car through an entrance. Knowing that such deliberate attacks on state office buildings do occur, authorities should have performed a risk assessment and then acted upon the results of that assessment to prevent such an occurrence at this location.
Take a look at the photo above again, and now take a look at the photo below -- does it look like anyone in authority at this state office building correctly assessed the risk, and then took corrective action to prevent such a vehicle attack on a building entrance? It sure does not look that way to me -- I have made recommendations to protect hundreds of entrances over the years, and this looks like a very neglected and very vulnerable location to me.
For video and photos and a full report, please see the coverage from KSTU Fox 13 in Salt Lake City by clicking on this LINK
This blog (and other articles that I have written or interviews that I have done) have many times referred to such accidents as being a very real and ongoing threat. Angry drivers crash into hotel lobbies to complain about their bill, they crash their way into court houses because they think they have been treated unfairly, and they crash into divorce attorney's offices because they feel that they have been profoundly victimized. Other drivers have crashed into stores to try and injure their wife or girlfriend, they have crashed into stores simply to try and hurt people, and sometimes there does not seem to be any reason at all.
Knowing that this risk is real, simple prevention seems to be prudent to protect employees and the public. Risk management principles are very clear -- if you cannot prevent the bad behavior, prevent the person behaving badly from being able to drive their car through an entrance. Knowing that such deliberate attacks on state office buildings do occur, authorities should have performed a risk assessment and then acted upon the results of that assessment to prevent such an occurrence at this location.
Take a look at the photo above again, and now take a look at the photo below -- does it look like anyone in authority at this state office building correctly assessed the risk, and then took corrective action to prevent such a vehicle attack on a building entrance? It sure does not look that way to me -- I have made recommendations to protect hundreds of entrances over the years, and this looks like a very neglected and very vulnerable location to me.
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