Social Question

Snarp's avatar

Is driving an armored car/truck dangerous?

Asked by Snarp (11272points) April 2nd, 2010

I see a lot of armored cars/trucks and their drivers delivering money to banks on the streets near work. The cars are heavily armored, the drivers wear heavy body armor, carry sidearms, and are usually pretty fit, and I assume they are well trained. But the only armored car robberies I’ve ever heard of are on the old Superman TV show or CSI: Miami. Does the armor and weaponry on prominent display actually render a robbery so unlikely that driving an armored car is a safer job than say, bank teller, convenience store clerk, or police officer?

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12 Answers

missingbite's avatar

There have been several armored truck assaults over the years. The Brinks robbery of ‘81 comes to mind. Pretty dangerous but not as much as a cops job.

lloydbird's avatar

Being hit by one would be.

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

Probably driving one is more dangerous than other vehicles of their size; limited visibility and higher center of gravity. The whole purpose of them is to put on such a display of security so as to discourage robbery attempts. The relatively small amount of money they carry is just not worth the effort and risk of attempting a robbery.

Trillian's avatar

They are always fatal for the driver and whoever else is in the car in the movies….

LuckyGuy's avatar

In my city more pizza delivery personnel are killed or injured than armored car gurards.
Armored car robberies are rare. I don’t know of any. Pizza robberies are about one every 2 months.

davidbetterman's avatar

@worriedguy Why would anyone steal a pizza? And especially why hurt the delivery person while taking the pizza(s)?

jaytkay's avatar

Why would anyone steal a pizza?

Pizza deliverers carry cash and they are alone. Cab drivers are robbed a lot, too.

Dr_Dredd's avatar

It is if I’m driving it! Everyone stay off the road! :-)

Pandora's avatar

Probably no more dangerous than working in a 7–11 after 10 pm. You’ll probably get paid better.

jbran's avatar

Yes it can be dangerous. When I lived in Helen Montana in 1993 there was an armored car robbery, I cant remember if the driver and the helper from the armored car got killed or injured or either. The robbers did get away with money until ATF and FBI caught up to the robbers. Guess what one of the robbers lived acrossed the street from me. Nothing like waking up on a saturday morning with ATF and FBI agents all over your yard getting ready to raid the robbers house. They evacuated all the other neighbors but not us and I dont know why. They took the robber without incident and no gunfire so I guess no harm no foul. But yes it can be pretty dangerous.

boxer1985LA's avatar

Im an employee for Dunbar Armored Truck & it seems this is a very not only risky job but dangerous field. I am a driver/guard and my duties is to be vigilant and aware of my surroundings. We dont carry as much money but we are held responsible for it.The relatively small amount of money we carry is just not worth the effort and risk of attempting a robbery. Besides that, this job you will find always issues and plenty of negative polictics. Any armored business you join, they will not appreciated or appraised your hard working dedication. We could say we are just simple targets by carrying amount of cash, and never know who is out there ready to start an illegal action. So think about it before putting in your foot on the door and the risk, and last if any one applies for Dunbar Armored Truck, please and I mean Please DONT APPLY because this is the shitties company and will regret. The benefits will not provide them to you until within 5 years or so.

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