In the LinkedIn Group Executive Protection Network a member responded to our article “The 85% Rule” with a question – Why do the numbers from 85% to 50%? – Our Response was that the variance is due to definition of in and around a vehicle, and the time frame used to gather data.

The numbers – From the book “Just 2 Seconds” by De Becker, Taylor and Marquart, their data shows that 43% of vehicle attacks occurred while seated or riding in vehicle, 15% while moving to/from vehicle and building for a total of 58%. As a side note if there is one book you should read this is the book.

The data collected for those numbers was from 1960 to 2007. If the statistics are taken from the present back 10 to 15 years the percentile is much higher, in the mid to high 80’s. I could answer why the numbers go up in that time frame – but if one is a pro and a student of the protective services they should know why the percentages have gone up.

We (VDI) have been and still are collecting our own data, and we have been doing it for 40 years. We use the data to design our scenario based training exercises.

In response to the above coauthor of the book “Just 2 Seconds” Tom Taylor posted the following

Tony, your explanation of the lower percentage of attacks in or around vehicles in our book “Just 2 Seconds” (J2S) is exactly right. Since we went back to the 60′s, as well as a few other factors, some of the the percentages were lower than normal. I’ve always told people it averages 60-80% per year, but that’s not based on solid stats like those you track at VDI. I’ve seen government figures as high as 90% when they talk about worldwide kidnappings. It depends on what you’re talking about. The stats we found in

J2S for attacks around the protectee’s vehicle were as follows:
42% of attacks in US in which protectee was killed or wounded
66% of attacks outside the US in which protectee was killed or wounded
62% of attacks worldwide in which the protectee was killed or wounded
8% of attacks in US which were unsuccessful
55% of attacks outside the US which were unsuccessful
49% of attacks worldwide which are unsuccessful
66% of the protectees kidnapped worldwide (we only examined 59 cases which is a fraction of the number each year)

There is no question that protectees are most at risk while they are in or around their cars, especially when you broaden the threat to include paparazzi and other unwelcome, unsolicited approaches. In my experience, having a skilled driver on the protective team can make all the difference in the world for having an effective, smooth, and professional detail. Most of my horror stories all begin the same: “…and then the driver did [insert something stupid]…”