Mike,
Yes, the Pinzgauers are really quite safe. They've got very nearly all the equipment required for DOT, from the factory. Let me know when you want a ride.
Ida34,
Thanks. I too think that a lawsuit might be needed. However, there are about 13 Pinz owners currently in Wis. We can't raise that kind of $$. But if the rest of the US ex-military collectors from Wisconsin were to join in...
Currently, there are at basically two camps in the state. There's Jeff Rowsam's group, which is quite large, but so far, they all seem to be supporting Rep Zigmunt's (the DOT's version) bill, apparently buying the DOT's argument that it's as good as they can get. There's the other group, which I guess I'm the loudmouth from (I'm not looking to be the leader, I like being in the background), who think that either 1) Rep. Zigmunt's bill needs amending or rejection. OR 2) Sen. Erpenbach's bill may be the answer. I too hope we can solidify into ONE group.
At least Sen. Erpenbach is willing to work on details to make his bill work for us. He's very unhappy with the DOT and what's been done to me.
DATA: that's a good question. No, WisDOT has, to date, not produced ANY data to support their claim of ex-military vehicles being unsafe.
One of DOT's arguments for forcing ex-mil vehicles to be licensed as "ex-mil" is that they want an easy method of tracking these vehicles safety record. I contend that the data already exists. Here's a link to a '07 WisDOT crash report. Note that the total fatalities from "Collector", "Collector Special", "Collector Cycle", "Hobbyist", "Antique", and "Hobbyist Cycle" plates
combined are less than those with "Packer" plates.
http://www.dot.state.wi.us/safety/motor ... ledata.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Maybe in the interest of highway safety, we should outlaw the Green Bay Packers?
Paul