Re: [MV] AMG response Military Humvee

From: William R. Benson (Benson@eqe.com)
Date: Wed Mar 08 2000 - 11:05:30 PST


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I'm ticked at AMC, not in their VP of PR.

But I'm also looking at this with the jaded eye of somebody who was trained to
drive both the M151 series truck, and the HummVee. I'm also a staunch supporter
of public safety and the Constitution, do not belong to the lunitic fringe, and
belioeve that I am responsible for my own actions and for those who are in my
care until they reach the age of eighteen, or their majority, whichever comes
first.

I can understand AMC not wanting to have anything to do with selling their
vehicles to anybody but the military. After all, the military can impose those
rules and regulations required for safe operation of their vehicles. You foul
up there, you got to the brig or the stockade. In the outside, you sue... And
let's face it, the "great unwashed" for the most part, ARE STUPID, and don't
hanker to stand up and face the music when they screw up...

I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the M151 series
truck has such a high center of gravity that if you turn at high speeds, the
energies involved will cause the vehicle to stick and roll, as opposed to
breaking and skidding, like a normal car (that was clumsy, I'm sure a scientist
can give a more precise explaination), but because some idiot decided to ignore
the specific handling charateristics of the vehicle, he rolled himself into a
little jeep colored ball and proved to Ralph Nader that we, as a people, aren't
to be trusted with our own safety, and day after day, we prove him right! ("We"
being the whole human race, not us who are responsible MV/gun/dog/radio
owners...)

I STILL think that we, the MVPA, should lobby to create a new class of drivers:
those qualified to drive specialized vehicles, or who have at least passed a
safe driving course that addresses the specific handling characteristics of our
MVs. I don't know the details, they would have to be hammered out, but then
maybe the government would stop destroying the MVs that we're trying to
obtain...

Okay, steam vented, thanks for listening... Let's not turn this into a flame
war, okay?

Bill



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