Vehicle explosion
Encyclopedia
A vehicle explosion is the destruction of, or damage to, a vehicle
caused by an explosion
. They may be caused by an accident or be used as a weapon.
A car bomb is an improvised explosive device
that is placed in a car or other vehicle and then exploded. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination
, terrorism
, or guerrilla warfare
, to kill the occupant(s) of the vehicle and people near the blast site and/or to cause damage to buildings or other property. Car bombs act as their own delivery mechanisms and can carry a relatively large amount of explosive material
without attracting suspicion. Truck
s are most commonly used, although motorcycle
s and even bicycle
s have also been used to carry bombs. They are sometimes for a suicide attack
.
The earliest car bombs were intended for assassination. These were often wired to the car's ignition system
, to explode when the car was started. Ignition triggering is now rare, as it is easy to detect and hard to install – interfering with the circuitry is time-consuming and car alarm
s can be triggered by drains on the car's electrical system. Also, the target can start the car remotely (inadvertently or otherwise), or the target may be a passenger who is a safe distance away when the ignition starts. It is now more common for assassination bombs to be affixed to the underside of the car and then detonated remotely, by the car's motion, or by other means. The bomb is exploded as the target approaches or starts the vehicle or, more commonly, after the vehicle begins to move, when the target is more likely to be inside. For this reason, guards often check the underside of vehicles with a long mirror mounted on a pole.
Kamikaze is a word of Japanese
origin, which in the English language
usually refers to suicide attacks carried out by Imperial Japan's military aviators
against Allied
ships
towards the end of the Pacific campaign
of World War II
, by crashing their planes
into warship
s to stop and block the advancement of Allied shipping towards the Japanese archipelago
. Air attacks were the predominant and best-known aspect of a wider use of – or plans for – suicide attacks by Japanese personnel, including soldiers carrying explosives, and boat crews (see Japanese Special Attack Units
).
Since the end of the war, in 1945, the word kamikaze has sometimes been used as a pars pro toto
for other kinds of attack in which an attacker is deliberately sacrificed. These include a variety of suicide attacks, in other historical contexts, such as the proposed use of Selbstopfer
aircraft by Nazi Germany
and various suicide bombings by terrorist organisations around the world, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks
.
s and television program
s overdramatise car explosions, showing them as being far more likely than they actually are. Cars in these media frequently explode after a crash
or when being hit by bullet
s. This was debunked in the 2009 season of MythBusters.
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
caused by an explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
. They may be caused by an accident or be used as a weapon.
Car bomb
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
that is placed in a car or other vehicle and then exploded. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, or guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
, to kill the occupant(s) of the vehicle and people near the blast site and/or to cause damage to buildings or other property. Car bombs act as their own delivery mechanisms and can carry a relatively large amount of explosive material
Explosive material
An explosive material, also called an explosive, is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure...
without attracting suspicion. Truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s are most commonly used, although motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
s and even bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s have also been used to carry bombs. They are sometimes for a suicide attack
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
.
The earliest car bombs were intended for assassination. These were often wired to the car's ignition system
Ignition system
An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture. Ignition systems are well known in the field of internal combustion engines such as those used in petrol engines used to power the majority of motor vehicles, but they are also used in many other applications such as in oil-fired and...
, to explode when the car was started. Ignition triggering is now rare, as it is easy to detect and hard to install – interfering with the circuitry is time-consuming and car alarm
Car alarm
A car alarm is an electronic device installed in a vehicle in an attempt to discourage theft of the vehicle itself, its contents, or both. Car alarms work by emitting high-volume sound when the conditions necessary for triggering are met, as well as by flashing some of the vehicle's...
s can be triggered by drains on the car's electrical system. Also, the target can start the car remotely (inadvertently or otherwise), or the target may be a passenger who is a safe distance away when the ignition starts. It is now more common for assassination bombs to be affixed to the underside of the car and then detonated remotely, by the car's motion, or by other means. The bomb is exploded as the target approaches or starts the vehicle or, more commonly, after the vehicle begins to move, when the target is more likely to be inside. For this reason, guards often check the underside of vehicles with a long mirror mounted on a pole.
Kamikaze
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
origin, which in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
usually refers to suicide attacks carried out by Imperial Japan's military aviators
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
against Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
ships
Naval ship
A naval ship is a ship used for combat purposes, commonly by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose...
towards the end of the Pacific campaign
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, by crashing their planes
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
into warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s to stop and block the advancement of Allied shipping towards the Japanese archipelago
Japanese Archipelago
The , which forms the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean...
. Air attacks were the predominant and best-known aspect of a wider use of – or plans for – suicide attacks by Japanese personnel, including soldiers carrying explosives, and boat crews (see Japanese Special Attack Units
Japanese Special Attack Units
During World War II, Japanese Special Attack Units , also called shimbu-tai, were specialized units of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army normally used for suicide missions...
).
Since the end of the war, in 1945, the word kamikaze has sometimes been used as a pars pro toto
Pars pro toto
Pars pro toto is Latin for "a part for the whole" where the name of a portion of an object or concept represents the entire object or context....
for other kinds of attack in which an attacker is deliberately sacrificed. These include a variety of suicide attacks, in other historical contexts, such as the proposed use of Selbstopfer
Selbstopfer
The Fieseler Fi 103R was a late-World War II German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb produced for missions which were to be carried out by the "Leonidas Squadron", Group V of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200.-Background:The Leonidas Squadron, part of KG 200, had been set up as a suicide...
aircraft by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and various suicide bombings by terrorist organisations around the world, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
.
Car explosions in film and television
Many filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s overdramatise car explosions, showing them as being far more likely than they actually are. Cars in these media frequently explode after a crash
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
or when being hit by bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
s. This was debunked in the 2009 season of MythBusters.