Device aims to lessen danger of hijacked gas trucks. (On the Homefront-Impact of War).A Sherman Oaks firm wants to slam the brakes on any chance of a terrorist hijacking hijacking Crime of seizing possession or control of a vehicle from another by force or threat of force. Although by the late 20th century hijacking most frequently involved the seizure of an airplane and its forcible diversion to destinations chosen by the air pirates, when a fuel truck and using it to blow up a building or other populated pop·u·late tr.v. pop·u·lat·ed, pop·u·lat·ing, pop·u·lates 1. To supply with inhabitants, as by colonization; people. 2. area. Vericom Technologies Inc. is outfitting fleets of gas trucks in L.A. County and nationwide with its Veriguard system, which automatically shuts down a truck's acceleration system when it detects an unauthorized driver, preventing terrorists from reaching their targeted areas. "The department of homeland security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States is looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. every way possible to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack," said Shraga Again, founder of the company, which has exclusive rights to distribute the Israeli-made device in the U.S. and Canada. "One of the ways is to protect the fuel and chemical holders." "It gives us peace of mind," said Ronald Appel, chief executive officer of Gardena-based United Oil Co., which outfitted the systems in its 14, 9,000-gallon trucks serving its 105 gas stations, including 85 in L.A. County. "We want to protect out drivers and trucks." Installed underneath the dashboard, the system can be programmed for activation within a few seconds or a few minutes after an unauthorized driver takes control of the vehicle. Once that occurs, head and taillights flash, the horn repeatedly honks and the truck's speed decreases to 2 miles per hour within a few hundred yards. The delay ensures that terrorists would be far enough away from the hijacking point so the authorized driver would not have to fear retaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and . So far, Vericom has sold 200 of the combined systems The Combined Systems project is a Dutch collaborative research and development project involving the key partners of the Delft Collaboration on Intelligent Systems (www.decis. (including 100 in L.A. County) since it began marketing them nationwide last December. They cost at $500 to $1,500, depending on the quantity and the type of technology used for driver identification. Most customers prefer one that involves dashboard levers--as opposed to a keypad A small keyboard or supplementary keyboard keys; for example, the keys on a calculator or the number/cursor cluster on a computer keyboard. See programmable keypad. with a personal identification number or a biometric thumbprint reader--because terrorists can't see the system is in place. The devices come separately or with fleet management technology, allowing companies to track via the Internet truck speeds, locations, and delivery times of any type of vehicles. So far, there have been no known terrorist hijackings of fuel trucks in the U.S. But terrorists took control of a gas truck and blew up a synagogue synagogue (sĭn`əgŏg) [Gr.,=assembly], in Judaism, a place of assembly for worship, education, and communal affairs. The origins of the institution are unclear. One tradition dates it to the Babylonian exile of the 6th cent. B.C. on the Tunisian island of Djerba, killing 19 people, in April 2002. A couple of other similar attempts were recently thwarted in Israel. The Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . , which investigated 90 reported truck thefts last year, has only six sworn personnel working its cargo theft unit. It is a strong advocate of anti-theft and tracking devices on large trucks. The cost of the devices is partially offset by lower insurance rates, similar to anti-theft devices on automobiles. "The insurance companies will reward you for reducing risks' of a potential hijacking of the vehicle," said Vince Polimeni, vice president of sales for Westlake Village-based Thorson & Associates Insurance Services Inc. |
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