z0iid
06-11-2004, 04:52 PM
Read down to the bold text. Awesome.
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Army's new wheels caught speeding
11 June 2004
By HANK SCHOUTEN
The army's powerful new armoured vehicles have proved they are fast – one has been given a ticket for doing 109km/h on State Highway 1.
A 15-tonne eight-wheel-drive LAV was pulled up just south of Taihape about two weeks ago.
Nathan Manzara, a Canadian test driver and customer support officer for LAV manufacturer General Dynamics, said a patrol car going the other way caught him on radar.
Snapped at 109km/h, he was 19km/h over the open road speed limit for heavy vehicles like the LAV. It cost him $120. The LAVs' top speed is governed – electronically controlled – at 110km/h.
Police road safety national adviser Inspector John McClelland said he had heard of the occasional military vehicle being pulled up for things like axle-weight checks but there were no records of tickets issued.
Until now, speed had not been an issue with the army's heavy vehicles – the old ones were not so fast.
As for dispensations for the military, he said: "They've got no defence." There were no exemptions like those covering police officers in an emergency.
Defence spokesman Ric Cullinane said any breach of the law was not condoned and people caught speeding had to pay their own fines. He had no idea how many might have been caught over the years.
Mr Manzara, in New Zealand since January and due to return to Canada soon, said he had paid the fine but feared he might also lose his job now that news of the ticket had got out.
In the past four years he has spent thousands of hours testing LAVs and he says they are great machines – handling almost as well as a car on the road and able to cross all sorts of terrain. "It will take much more punishment than those riding inside it. It'll go beyond most drivers' capabilities," said Mr Manzara whose experience includes driving LAVs on "destruction tests" in the United States to simulate 10 years' wear and tear in just three months.
He said he found his own limits one day on General Dynamics' Michigan proving ground when he ran hard over a series of ditches. His LAV hit the side of a ditch so hard his seatbelt broke and the front suspension was damaged. It was still drivable but he was so bruised it took him six weeks to recover fully.
He had also tested handling to the limit, throwing a LAV around like a rally car, lifting wheels while cornering – he had even had one in a full eight-wheel drift.
With six-speed automatic transmission they were easy to drive but their left-hand drive and width made them tricky on New Zealand roads. A recent drive from Trentham to Waiouru took only four hours, he said.
----------------------------
Army's new wheels caught speeding
11 June 2004
By HANK SCHOUTEN
The army's powerful new armoured vehicles have proved they are fast – one has been given a ticket for doing 109km/h on State Highway 1.
A 15-tonne eight-wheel-drive LAV was pulled up just south of Taihape about two weeks ago.
Nathan Manzara, a Canadian test driver and customer support officer for LAV manufacturer General Dynamics, said a patrol car going the other way caught him on radar.
Snapped at 109km/h, he was 19km/h over the open road speed limit for heavy vehicles like the LAV. It cost him $120. The LAVs' top speed is governed – electronically controlled – at 110km/h.
Police road safety national adviser Inspector John McClelland said he had heard of the occasional military vehicle being pulled up for things like axle-weight checks but there were no records of tickets issued.
Until now, speed had not been an issue with the army's heavy vehicles – the old ones were not so fast.
As for dispensations for the military, he said: "They've got no defence." There were no exemptions like those covering police officers in an emergency.
Defence spokesman Ric Cullinane said any breach of the law was not condoned and people caught speeding had to pay their own fines. He had no idea how many might have been caught over the years.
Mr Manzara, in New Zealand since January and due to return to Canada soon, said he had paid the fine but feared he might also lose his job now that news of the ticket had got out.
In the past four years he has spent thousands of hours testing LAVs and he says they are great machines – handling almost as well as a car on the road and able to cross all sorts of terrain. "It will take much more punishment than those riding inside it. It'll go beyond most drivers' capabilities," said Mr Manzara whose experience includes driving LAVs on "destruction tests" in the United States to simulate 10 years' wear and tear in just three months.
He said he found his own limits one day on General Dynamics' Michigan proving ground when he ran hard over a series of ditches. His LAV hit the side of a ditch so hard his seatbelt broke and the front suspension was damaged. It was still drivable but he was so bruised it took him six weeks to recover fully.
He had also tested handling to the limit, throwing a LAV around like a rally car, lifting wheels while cornering – he had even had one in a full eight-wheel drift.
With six-speed automatic transmission they were easy to drive but their left-hand drive and width made them tricky on New Zealand roads. A recent drive from Trentham to Waiouru took only four hours, he said.