Security a concern in bicycle-friendly areas

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Terror attacks involving vehicles barreling into pedestrians have happened in Nice, France, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Spain and now New York.

[Truck attack suspect charged with supporting ISIS; FBI seeks 2nd man]

"I believe it was coming and this is not the end of it," security expert Ross Bulla said. "It's a low-tech, easy-to-carry-out attack. You don't have to be trained. You don't have to have sophisticated equipment."

Bulla hopes cities will prepare themselves for a future attack and examine how they protect pedestrians and cyclists.

The city of Charlotte wants to put a permanently protected bike lane in uptown. Sustain Charlotte is leading the charge.

"This will take away stress from not only the cyclist or pedestrian but also the motorist," Kate Cavazza, with Sustain Charlotte, said.

She said the project is in the design stage right now but ideally the group wants something aesthetic and strong for protection.

"As long as there is that physical barrier, whether it be planters or jersey barriers, it is better than what we have right now," she said.

Last week, leaders blocked off traffic on Fifth and Sixth streets with cones, plants and hay bales to test one the lanes.

Bulla said that is nowhere near strong enough to prevent a major attack, but something is better than nothing.

"The more overlapping layers of security you put in, the more you convince someone to go somewhere else," he said.

Cox Media Group