A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device placed inside a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle, people near the blast site, or to damage buildings or other property. Car bombs act as their own delivery mechanisms and can carry a relatively large amount of explosives without attracting suspicion; in larger vehicles and trucks, weights of at least 7000 pounds (3200 kg) have been used. Car bombs are activated in a variety of ways; including opening the vehicle's doors, starting the engine, depressing the accelerator or brake pedals or simply lighting a fuse or setting a timing device. The gasoline in the vehicle's fuel tanks makes the explosion of the bomb more powerful.
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Famous quotes containing the words car and/or bomb:
“It all began so beautifully. After a drizzle in the morning, the sun came out bright and clear. We were driving into Dallas. In the lead car were President and Mrs. Kennedy.”
—Lady Bird Johnson (b. 1912)
“No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent.”
—Charles De Gaulle (1890–1970)