Don't like the rules? Just change them

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
July 18, 2014

You know those fancy military vehicles that the McHenry County Sheriff's Department just acquired? Yes, vehicles. Plural. As in, more than one. (And that's not counting the MARV.) The MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) and that other one?

MARV certainly didn't look street-legal to me, but what cop in McHenry County was going to be brave enough to pull it over and write the deputy a ticket.

Now it becomes public information that the MRAP and the other recently-acquired military vehicle do not meet EPA standards. Their diesel engines put out too much emissions of the violation-type. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) had been transferring titles to local law-enforcement agencies, when it gave away the vehicles (or sold them at ridiculously low pricing).

The the departments acquiring them must have figured out that they couldn't operate them because of the engines. The departments must have whined to their elected offices, because Sen. John McCain and an assembly of about 25 donned their white hats and rode to the rescue, firing off a missive to the DoD. So the DoD decided to retain the titles, so that the EPA exclusion could be preserved.

No matter that the vehicles were no longer under control of the DoD. I wonder if the Federal Government is willing to take on the financial risk inherent in letting unknown persons operated and use vehicles to which it holds the titles.

Wonder what this is all about? Read this Army Times article and try to figure it out for yourself.

In the meantime, when you see these military vehicles bearing down on you, grab your gas mask and oxygen, because you are going to need it. Stay out of the way - way out of the way; the diesel engines do not meet emission standards. So much for the environment; right?