Texas isn't the center of the universe, but there is the mixmaster and there's the "High Five" they built north of Dallas, TX, to consider. Both would make operating the MRAPs at speed dangerous.
And there are other U.S. cities that have terrain that is more rugged than Dallas, e.g.:
Denver, CO
San Francisco, CA
Chattanooga, TN
Little Rock, AR
Duluth, MN
etc.,
This article deals with accidents in and around Baghdad; which at the elevation of 112 feet, btw, is not known for its mountains.
Fatal MRAP rollovers prompt warnings
By Richard Lardner - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 24, 2008
The first fatal accident occurred on the night of April 23 near a town north of Baghdad.
A crew of six soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division was traveling over an irrigation canal in a Caiman, a 9-foot-tall, 19-ton MRAP made by BAE Systems in Sealy, Texas. BAE is one of several defense contractors building the vehicles, which come in varied sizes. One model, when fully loaded, can weigh as much as 40 tons.
The Caiman was moving at only 5 mph as the driver started to make a 90-degree turn, according to the Army’s account. But he swung the wheel too quickly and the truck’s huge rear tires caught the road’s soft dirt shoulder, which began to collapse.
Trying to avoid trouble, the driver hit the gas, but the Caiman flipped on its right side. It slid down a slope back end first and into 10 feet of foul water that began to fill the vehicle.
The power shut down, plunging the crew into darkness.
Three of the four soldiers in the rear found an air pocket and stayed in it until they were pulled through the gun turret on the roof. The driver, who received a head injury, also survived.
Pfc. John T. Bishop and 1st Lt. Timothy W. Cunningham weren’t so lucky. . . .
On April 23, just hours before the deaths of Bishop and Cunningham, a MaxxPro assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Iraq was heading north on Main Supply Route Tampa. Seeing a deep rut in the road, which runs from Kuwait to Baghdad, the driver steered to avoid it.
The vehicle struck a concrete wall and rolled over, injuring at least one soldier.
On the morning of Jan. 29, a convoy of three MRAPs from the 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment was heading to Fira Shia, a village northwest of Baghdad, where a car explosion had been reported. As the third MRAP in the patrol crossed over a bridge,
the span collapsed, sending the vehicle into the canal below.
One soldier, upside down in the vehicle, was caught in his seat belt. He swallowed water and nearly drowned before being freed by another soldier.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_mrap_072408/
Nevertheless, purchasing this many MRAPs for DHS is a congressional boondoggle; even Strykers make more sense for LE use than MRAPs.
