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Lawmakers to be briefed on Humvee safety issue

A 'Daily News' report says the addition of armor to the vehicles led to more crashes and deaths.

By Jessica Wehrman

Staff Writer

WASHINGTON | In what may become the first serious investigative action about reports of increased rollovers among up-armored Humvees, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee this week asked a committee member to organize a briefing on the issue.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked committee member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to schedule a briefing for senators after Reed confirmed that 60 U.S. soldiers have died in Humvee rollovers during the war in Iraq. The U.S. Army records also found that of the 337 injuries in Humvee accidents in Iraq, 149 occurred in rollovers. The statistics were first published in the Dayton Daily News last Sunday.

Reed said the move offered a preliminary opportunity for the committee to begin studying the rollover issue. "If it's serious, it's obviously something the chairman will move on," Reed said.

Separately, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he planned to write to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to ask them about the high rollover rates.

Voinovich expressed concern about reports that the up-armored vehicles have had problems with rollovers as early as 1996, during conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo.

"If this has been around that long, it seems to me we should already have been doing something about it," he said.