The Atlantic

How Cities Defend Against Vehicular Attacks

The deadly incident in Toronto shows the vulnerability of city streets.
Source: Eric Gaillard / Reuters

Yonge Street is Toronto’s most well-known thoroughfare. With some of the city’s busiest intersections, it serves hundreds of thousands of pedestrians and vehicles each day. And like most major streets in big cities, it lacks barriers to divide them from one another.

The vehicular attack Monday on a two-kilometer stretch of Yonge Street, which killed did the van come to a stop; its driver was soon arrested. The suspect, 25-year-old Alek Minassian, was charged Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

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