Is a Book on European Security Driving Necessary?
A book on European security driving is necessary because the European environment is specific, complex, fragmented, and underdeveloped from a doctrinal point of view. Security driving is often treated as a secondary task inside close protection, or as a technical driving skill that can be learned through experience, advanced driving courses, or military and police methods. This view is no longer sustainable. In Europe, the security driver operates inside a civilian legal environment shaped by strict traffic laws, different national licensing systems, fragmented private security regulations, employer liability, insurance conditions, data-protection obligations, different use-of-force rules, and varied client expectations.
Much of the existing security driving knowledge has been imported from other fields: military convoy doctrine, police pursuit driving, emergency vehicle operation, racing techniques, high-risk protective operations, or Anglo-American executive protection literature. These fields provide useful knowledge, but they cannot be transferred automatically into European civilian executive protection. A method developed for military convoys in a conflict zone cannot simply become a procedure for a private security driver in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Bucharest, Rome, or Warsaw. It must be examined, refined, adapted, and constrained by law, proportionality, public safety, vehicle technology, and professional responsibility. This European focus is one of the central reasons for Volume I – The Foundations of Security Driving and the wider Security Driving Trilogy.
Europe also lacks a coherent shared framework for security driving. Standards differ between countries. Training practices vary widely. Some operators come from law enforcement or military backgrounds. Others come from private security, professional driving, chauffeur work, ride-share driving, or personal networks. Some have advanced driving training, while others have none. Some understand close protection, while others understand only navigation and comfort. Without common doctrine, common definitions, and common professional expectations, the quality of secure transportation remains uneven.
A European security driving book is also necessary because the threat environment has changed. Protected persons are exposed not only to road accidents, but also to organized crime, terrorism, public disorder, lone actors, hostile surveillance, targeted attacks, hybrid threats, drones, cyber-enabled tracking, and reputational risks. At the same time, urban congestion, public events, media exposure, environmental restrictions, pedestrian density, road design, and modern vehicle systems create operational constraints that do not always exist in training environments.
The European context is particularly important because most private security drivers do not have the same privileges as emergency vehicle operators. They cannot simply activate lights and sirens, ignore red lights, exceed speed limits, or force traffic aside unless authorized by law. Their protection must therefore rely much more on planning, route analysis, discretion, threat awareness, surveillance detection, timing, communication, and judgment. This is why Volume III – Advanced Security Driving places such emphasis on protective intelligence, route analysis, surveillance detection, attack recognition, and disciplined response rather than purely on vehicle handling.
A dedicated European book is also needed because many security driving concepts remain overclassified, fragmented, anecdotal, or transmitted informally. In some professional circles, information that is publicly available is still treated as secret. This limits serious discussion, prevents doctrine from developing, and leaves younger drivers dependent on outdated training, personal stories, or cinematic imagination. A mature profession cannot depend only on informal transmission. It needs written knowledge, structured analysis, shared terminology, and open professional debate.
Another reason is research. Security driving remains under-researched compared with other areas of protective operations. Firearms, bodyguard formations, and physical protection often receive more attention than protective mobility, even though movement is one of the most frequent and vulnerable phases of a protective assignment. A European study allows the profession to examine attacks, patterns, vulnerabilities, route exposure, embus and debus risks, attacker behavior, legal responsibilities, and the role of drivers in real incidents.
The need for such a book is therefore not only commercial. It is professional. Europe needs security driving literature that speaks to European law, European roads, European traffic, European private security realities, European clients, European languages, and European threat patterns. The objective is not to create a rigid universal doctrine, but to provide a structured foundation upon which professionals, trainers, students, managers, and researchers can build.
Security driving in Europe deserves more than imported fragments. It needs a discipline adapted to the environment where it is practiced. That is the purpose of the Complete Handbook of Security Driving: to connect foundations, model, and advanced application into one coherent professional reference.