How Safe Is President Obama’s Motorcade?

In the latest blow to our nation’s confidence in President Obama’s security detail, the New York Times reports untrained volunteers drive in President Obama’s motorcade.

Apparently, a driver’s license, no criminal record and knowing the right person can give an untrained volunteer the keys to one of the cars accompanying Obama’s motorcade. The volunteers drive vans carrying journalists and White House staffers between the bulletproof cars driven by highly trained Secret Service agents and the ambulance that anchors the motorcade.

The practice has come under fire from some security experts, the Times reports. Unlike the other motorcade drivers, these volunteers haven’t been trained on how to handle emergency situations, let alone an actual threat to the motorcade. Volunteer drivers have been used since the ’80s. To be fair, highways and roads are completely shutdown when the motorcade is passing through and there is little to no traffic. Still, the New York Times has raised eyebrows considering that there were several security breaches at the White House this fall.