A 7.5-tonne truck smashes into a set of lightweight barriers so small they barely reach an adult's knees.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
You'd expect the vehicle to flatten them, but one end of the barriers digs in under the truck's chassis and lifts it into the air.
Travelling at 50km/h on impact, the truck comes to a complete stop in just 17.8 metres.
Thankfully, this is just a test included in a YouTube video.
But the ACT government, in an effort to prevent a real vehicle-ramming attack like the deadly strikes of recent years in Europe, has bought two sets of the Mifram 3X barriers featured in the video and will deploy them at public events in Canberra, including the Floriade festival starting next weekend.
The Justice and Community Safety Directorate's executive branch manager of security and emergency management, Bren Burkevics, said the government had spent $40,000 on two sets of the mobile barriers, which could be locked into position and unlocked within seconds using a removable handle.
"If a vehicle were to drive into [a barrier], whether for a hostile purpose or if someone had a medical emergency, it catches the vehicle and sort of picks it up," Mr Burkevics said.
"We trialled them during New Year's Eve and the National Multicultural Festival.
"One of the challenges that we have in creating safer public places is that if you use barricades or concrete blocks and an emergency happens, it's slow to get emergency vehicles in.
![ACT Roads works co-ordinator Mick Sullivan and Bren Burkevics from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate check out the new portable barriers the ACT government has bought to stop vehicle-ramming attacks. Picture: Karleen Minney ACT Roads works co-ordinator Mick Sullivan and Bren Burkevics from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate check out the new portable barriers the ACT government has bought to stop vehicle-ramming attacks. Picture: Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc76zdqzzwfeu17ern6e7s.jpg/r0_303_4127_2623_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"The advantage of these barriers is that while they're designed to stop a truck at up to 7.5 tonnes, you can move them quite quickly out of the way."
Mr Burkevics said the government's two sets of barriers consisted of 12 "legs", each of which could be removed and re-configured to create one long barrier or several shorter ones.
"The government will of course assess the need for further investment in these products, but we think this is probably the minimum capability that we need here in the ACT to strengthen the safety of our events," he said.
Mr Burkevics said each major event was assessed for risk, and the barriers would be useful at any event with a mass gathering of people.
He expected the barriers would be used again on New Year's Eve and at the National Multicultural Festival.
Despite Floriade being considered a low-risk and controlled environment, the barriers would also be rolled out there to give ACT government staff an opportunity to become familiar with them.
The purchase of the barriers is part of a wider $2 million ACT government investment, as the territory implements local measures under the federal government's Strategy for Protecting Crowded Places from Terrorism.
The strategy was adopted in 2017, following several terror attacks that involved vehicles being driven into crowds in Europe. In one of the attacks, a truck was driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring 458 others.
"If the security threat environment was to change here in the ACT, we've now got this capability ready to go," Mr Burkevics said.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman said the government worked closely with event organisers on a range of public safety measures.
He said the barriers would complement upgrades to the public safety CCTV network. There were also now 20 solar-powered CCTV cameras across Canberra, with five of those to be used at Floriade.