Darren Drake’s parents demand crackdown on apps used by terrorists in wake of NOLA attack
The parents of a New Jersey man killed in a 2017 ISIS-inspired rental-truck terror attack in Manhattan says a law honoring their son must be updated to prevent terrorists from using Turo and similar ride-sharing apps as they did this week in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
The US Department of Homeland Security was required to create a report outlining strategies to help prevent vehicular terrorist attacks as part of the “Darren Drake Act,” named after a 32-year-old among the eight stuck and killed by a rented Home Depot truck driven onto a bike path by terrorist Sayfullo Saipov in the Halloween attack along the West Side Highway.
The law sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) required DHS to draft a list of “best practices” for car and truck rental companies to report suspicious behavior by renters to law enforcement to help prevent vehicles from being used as weapons of mass destruction.
But the law fails to directly address car-sharing apps like Turo, which act as AirBnb-like middlemen by allowing users to rent vehicles from hosts registered with the site.
Turo is under scrutiny because the two vehicles used in the deadly New Year’s Day terror attacks in Las Vegas and New Orleans were rented on its platform.
Both Jimmy and Barbara Drake praised Gottheimer for sponsoring the bill, but told The Post DHS must crack down on companies like Turo – and they called for amended or new legislation requiring it.
“It’s obvious that this bill might need a little updating,” said Jimmy Drake. “Up until these incidents in Vegas and New Orleans, we all had great aspirations for the bill preventing [terrorists] from killing people with a car.”
“The law should cover all aspects because [terrorists] get around all corners, so it shouldn’t just be the rental agencies – but all aspects,” said his wife.
Gottheimer told The Post he’s reached out to DHS to “ensure they immediately brief Turo and all rental car companies on actions they must take to stop terror trucks.
Without offering specifics, the pol said he’s working on new legislation “that goes even further to provide more tools to prevent these heinous terrorist attacks” and “stop lone wolf terrorists from using terror trucks as weapons of destruction.”
His office would not turn over a copy of the DHS report, saying it is marked “For Official Use Only.”
Darren Drake was a project manager for Moody’s Investors Service at the World Trade Center.
The New Milford, N.J. resident had recently lost 93 pounds after undergoing lap band surgery and was out for a bike ride between meetings when the truck hit and killed him.
A Turo spokesperson said the company doesn’t “believe that either renter” in the New Year’s Day attacks “had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related.”
DHS didn’t return messages.