Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 8
Principles of
Route Selection
ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DRIVING their vehicles are
common with both terrorists and common criminals. An individ-
ual traveling by car can be quite vulnerable. If the bad guys have spent
any time at all watching you, they will know exactly when and where you
will be most vulnerable and act against you at that moment. We have dis-
cussed the basic principles of route selection in Chapter 7, in the context
of vehicle safety. We've decided, however, to devote a separate chapter to
teaching Americans living abroad how to drive in a manner calculated to
enhance their safety. This subject is taught in virtually every intelligence
academy throughout the world. The goal is to reduce the number of
agents and operatives assaulted, kidnapped, or assassinated. One of the
most important ways you can increase your level of security is to carefully
select the roads you drive on, whenever possible. Knowledge of the prin-
ciples of route selection will enable you to do this and are generally broken
down into a short summary known as “the 10 rules.”
1.
Be alert in and around your car.
2.
Avoid “choke points.”
3.
Avoid one-lane roads.
4.
Watch the car in front.
5.
Watch the car to the rear.
6.
Avoid predictable patterns of travel.
7.
Beware the “box.”
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