The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and South Korea and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(June 2022) |
A motorcade, or autocade, is a procession of motor vehicles. Uses can include ceremonial processions for funerals or demonstrations, but can also be used to provide security while transporting a very important person. The American presidential motorcade is an example of both and is a staple of public appearances by the president of the United States.
The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot (in 1912 or 1913 when he was automobile editor of the Arizona Republican), and is formed after cavalcade , playing off of the last syllable in that word. The original suffix in cavalcade is actually "-ade", and there is no "-cade" in either French or Latin. -cade has since become a productive suffix in English, leading to the alternative names carcade, autocade, and even Hoovercade (after J. Edgar Hoover) as a suffix meaning "procession". Eric Partridge called the name a "monstrosity", and Lancelot Hogben considered the word to be a "counterfeit coinage". [1] [2] [3]
A funeral cortege is a procession of mourners, most often in a motorcade of vehicles following a hearse. [4]
Motorcades can be used as protests and demonstrations. [5] A large, organised, group of vehicles will travel a busy route at very slow speed in order to deliberately cause traffic disruption. This is a tactic most often associated with protest groups that have access to many large vehicles, such as truckers and farmers. An example is the 2005 UK protests against fuel prices. [6] As part of the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in November 2013—February 2014, the sub-movement that made use of car processions as the means of protest was called the Automaidan.
Russian people and their advocates support the 2022 Russian invasion organising motorcades in Germany, [7] Serbia [8] and Greece. [9]
Motorcades can be used to transport a very important person, usually a political figure. Such a procession consists of several vehicles, usually accompanied by law enforcement support and additional protection to ensure the safety of the people in the motorcade. Motorcades for heads of government and heads of state can consist of dozens of vehicles, those being armoured cars, SUVs, and police motorcycles and cars leading the way and following.
Depending on the size of the motorcade and who it is carrying, routes may be completely blockaded from the general public. For security, this often occurs for motorcades for heads of state or government.
The motorcade for the President of the United States comprises forty to fifty vehicles; in addition to the president, the motorcade may carry his or her spouse or children, members of the press, security, White House officials, and VIP guests. The major members travel in armored vehicles, typically specially configured limousines. The motorcade contains several armored vehicles, a USSS Electronic Countermeasures Suburban, a counter-assault team, and Secret Service agents. When called for, a hazardous materials team precedes the motorcade on alert for potential hazards.
A police presence precedes the beginning of the presidential motorcade. These cars and motorcycles always drive ahead to clear the way and block traffic and also are in constant communication with the secret service. [10]
The motorcade for the president is made up of two parts, the first being the "secure package". [11] In the event of an emergency, the secure package separates from the rest of the group. [11] It includes two limousines heavily guarded by local law enforcement and Secret Service, with all cars driven by professional drivers. [11]
The second part is made up of vans that transport White House staff members and selected members of the press. In the rear is the WHCA Roadrunner special communications van – which provides the primary communications path via satellite, allowing bi-directional voice, data and streaming video– an ambulance, and additional police vehicles. [11]
Motorcade routes are coordinated and selected by Secret Service agents in cooperation with local police forces or US military in war-torn countries, For example when the president visited troops in Afghanistan, US military troops provided security to the motorcade. Escape routes are also established in the event of an emergency. [11]
The motorcade for the President of South Korea comprises twenty to thirty vehicles; in addition to the president, the motorcade may carry his or her spouse, members of the press, security, Blue House officials, VIP guests, family, friends and cabinet members. High ranking cabinet members travel in armored vehicles, typically specially configured limousines or armored Cadillac Escalades. The motorcade contains several armored vehicles of different car brands, with a counter-assault team, Presidential Security Service agents, medical teams, police escorts from the Korean National Police Agency and other unknown unmarked vehicles.
The police escort usually precedes the Presidential motorcade to clear the way, block traffic and shut down the streets for the motorcade.
The motorcade is divided into two different parts, the first half being the part of the motorcade carrying the president and his or her spouse the second half carrying Blue House staff, more security and the press.
Many people most notably saw the Korean presidential motorcade during the first Inter-Korean summit at the DMZ on the Korean border, where the leaders of the two Koreas met for the first time.
The routes for the motorcade are selected by the Presidential Security Service agents with cooperation with local police forces. There is always an emergency route set in case of any emergencies before the President goes anywhere.
The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security with the purpose of conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government. The Secret Service was, until 2003, part of the Department of the Treasury, due to their initial mandate of combatting counterfeiting of U.S. currency. The agency has protected U.S. presidents and presidential candidates since 1901.
A bodyguard is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, wealthy people, and celebrities — from danger: generally theft, assault, kidnapping, assassination, harassment, loss of confidential information, threats, or other criminal offences. The personnel team that protects a VIP is often referred to as the VIP's security detail.
Militsiya were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). The term Militsiya continues to be used in common and sometimes official usage in some of the individual former Soviet republics such as Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as in the partially recognised or unrecognised republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, DNR and LNR. In Russian law enforcement, the term remained official usage until 2011.
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols and responses to calls for service. A type of emergency vehicle, police cars are used by police officers to patrol a beat, quickly reach incident scenes, and transport and temporarily detain suspects, all while establishing a police presence and providing visible crime deterrence.
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died after having Alzheimer's disease for over a decade. Reagan was the first former U.S. president to die in 10 years since Richard Nixon in 1994. At the age of 93 years, 120 days, Reagan was the longest-lived U.S. president in history at the time of his death, a record which was surpassed by Gerald Ford on November 12, 2006. His seven-day state funeral followed. After Reagan's death, his body was taken from his Bel Air home to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California, to prepare the body for burial. On June 7, Reagan's casket was transported by hearse and displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, then flown to Washington, D.C., on June 9 for a service, public viewing and tributes at the U.S. Capitol.
Emergency vehicle lighting, also known as simply emergency lighting or emergency lights, is a type of vehicle lighting used to visually announce a vehicle's presence to other road users. A sub-type of emergency vehicle equipment, emergency vehicle lighting is generally used by emergency vehicles and other authorized vehicles in a variety of colors.
Jesse Edward Curry was an American police officer who was the chief of the Dallas Police Department from 1960 to 1966, which included the period of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963.
The United States presidential state car is the official state car of the president of the United States.
The Presidential Security Force of Indonesia is one of the Central Executive Agencies of the Indonesian National Armed Forces responsible for proximate security and escort towards the head of state and VVIP in Indonesia, which includes the President, Vice President with their immediate families, former Presidents and Vice Presidents, and visiting foreign heads of state. Paspampres is based in Jakarta, and its personnel are drawn from deputized best-chosen officers, soldiers, seamen, marines, and airmen from special forces and/or special units within the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). It is commanded by a two-star military general.
Clinton J. Hill is a former U.S. Secret Service agent who served under five United States presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gerald Ford. Hill is best known for his act of bravery while in the presidential motorcade on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. During the assassination, Hill ran from the Secret Service followup car, behind the presidential limousine, leaped onto the back of it and shielded Jacqueline Kennedy and the stricken president with his body as the car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. His act is documented in film footage by Abraham Zapruder. Since the death of Nellie Connally in 2006, Hill is the last surviving person who was in the presidential limousine that day.
An official state car is a vehicle used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from other countries. A few countries bring their own official state car for state visits to other countries, for instance, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany and Japan. It also may serve as an automotive symbol of the head of state and their country. An official state car must have adequate security, capability and stateliness for its duty. A limousine or other high-end vehicle is usually selected.
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007. Various meetings were held across Australia from January to August 2007, with the event cumulating in Leaders Week, where the heads of government of each member economy attended Sydney from 2 to 9 September 2007.
Jerry S. Parr was a United States Secret Service special agent who is best known for defending President Ronald Reagan during the attempt on the president's life on March 30, 1981, in Washington, D.C. Parr pushed Reagan into the presidential limousine and made the critical decision to divert the presidential motorcade to George Washington University Hospital instead of returning to the White House. He was honored for his actions that day with U.S. Congress commendations, and is widely credited with helping to save the president's life.
The White House Communications Agency Roadrunner vehicle is an element of every American presidential motorcade. It is also known as the MC2V. The vehicle serves as the communications hub for the motorcade by encrypting duplex radio and streaming video which in turn is beamed up to a military satellite which in turn beams that data back down to a ground entry point and through to the WHCA switchboard.
The United States government has maintained a variety of vehicles for the president. Because of the president's role as commander-in-chief, military transports are exclusively used for international travel; however, the civilian Secret Service operates the president's motorcade.
The Society of Blue Buckets is a free protest movement that emerged in Russia in 2010 as a response to the arbitrary, self-serving use of emergency rotating blue flashers by public servants. Inspired by blue toy buckets' strong resemblance to emergency blue rotating lights, members of the Society affix buckets to their vehicles’ roofs during automotive flashmobs, as a manifestation of their protest against misuse of emergency lights.
The Russian presidential state car is the official state car of the President of Russia.
On May 13, 1958, US Vice President Richard Nixon's motorcade was attacked by a mob in Caracas, Venezuela, during Nixon's goodwill tour of South America. The event was described at the time as the "most violent attack ever perpetrated on a high American official while on foreign soil." Close to being killed while a couple of his aides were injured in the melee, Nixon ended up unharmed and his entourage managed to reach the U.S. embassy. The visit took place only months after the overthrow in January of Venezuelan dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, who in 1954 had been awarded the Legion of Merit and was later granted asylum by the United States, and the incident may have been orchestrated by the Communist Party of Venezuela. U.S. Navy Admiral Arleigh Burke mobilized fleet and Marine units to the region, compelling the Venezuelan government to provide full protection to Nixon for the remainder of the trip.
The former President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, used a highly modified Hyundai Nexo SUV, a Genesis EQ900, and a Mercedes-Maybach W222 S600 Guard as his official state cars.
Aurus Motors is a Russian luxury car company founded in 2018, originally strictly as a Russian motorcade vehicle brand until 2021 when the company's first civilian model, the Aurus Senat, began production in May. The automaker claims to have sold 115 cars in 2023. Facelifts are planned for 2026 and 2030. President Putin had a facelifted Aurus in 2024.