Features
How to avoid an ambush
Craig Summers, the BBC's Safety and Security Advisor, reveals the secret of staying safe in a war zone
"All our guys employed in Baghdad have got evasive driving skills and are trained in how to behave if there is a potential ambush or incident.
"The advice goes like this: while you're driving along, you need to be aware of who's in front of you, who's to the rear of you, or if anybody has got in between you and your second vehicle.
"We always go out with more than one vehicle. The back-up vehicle will be tasked with making the call if something happens, because they'll have a better view.
"Always keep a distance between yourself and the vehicle in front of you, enough so you can either pull left or right around it if the traffic comes to a halt. Use wing mirrors all the time.
"We're always on the lookout for cars that are known to carry insurgents. We know for a fact that the BMW 5-Series is often used, as increasingly is the Opel Omega.
"In Iraq we're also on the lookout for the Americans, because at the end of the day, they could pose a threat as well.
"When we leave the BBC location we have a tracking device in the car and communications back to the BBC office.
'If there's potential of an ambush or a blockage, there's no point in doing any over-evasive driving'
"There's always a security guy in the vehicle too. The vehicles that we use have ballistic plating inside them which will protect from rounds between 7.6mm to 9mm.
"The key is not to panic; remember if you only hear a burst of gunfire, it may not be aimed at you, so just carry on as normal.
"If there's potential of an ambush or a blockage, there's no point in doing any over-evasive driving by going down side roads and onto pavements.
"The public are there, too, and you're trying to maintain as low a profile as possible. Even with rounds being fired, if we're actually being targeted the initial plan would be to drive straight through and put as much distance between ourselves and whoever is attacking us.
"We're not there to stand and fight, we aren't soldiers, after all."
"We had one incident heading to the airport in Baghdad where in front of us there'd been an attack on a western security company.
"We saw it happen, the Americans were onto it, but we were all caught up in traffic. There are times when you shouldn't be on the streets at all; we left and rejoined the road further up.
"We were a couple of minutes behind a suicide bomb, but, as you see on the news, you never know when there's going to be an incident.
"You've got to be aware all the time. That's the main asset that you need in such places."
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