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Sen. George Voinovich's office is reviewing the Army's response to his concerns about what is being done about the safety of uparmored Humvees, his office said Wednesday.

The Ohio Republican, in a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dated June 28, said he was "pleased to learn of the Army's recent initiatives to reduce the prevalence" of rollovers.

Those initiatives, which include a partnership with General Motors to train combat soldiers in navigating slick conditions in which skidding might occur in an effort to reduce rollovers, were spelled out by Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey in a letter dated July 28 responding to Voinovich's concerns about the safety of the combat vehicles.

Voinovich's letter to Rumsfeld was in response to a Dayton Daily News special report on uparmored Humvees — vehicles that have had armor added to them.

The report, Lethal Protection, published June 11, found that 60 of the 85 soldiers who died in Humvee crashes in Iraq in 2005 — or about 70 percent — were killed in rollovers.

Harvey also wrote that "significant progress in educating, training and informing the Senior Leadership and Soldiers on the hazards and preventive measures of rollover" Humvees.

"In early 2005, the Army began fielding five enhancements. These improvements address many of the issues discussed in the Dayton Daily News article."

Those enhancements include:

• The gunner restraint, designed to prevent that person from being ejected.

• Quick release-style seat belts to allow ease of entry and egress while wearing full battle gear. Since August 2005, the Army has shipped more than 36,600 of these belts to the Iraqi theater.

Harvey also noted that according to statistics collected by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, most utility vehicles (SUVs) have a three-star rating (20 percent chance of rollover), with many still at a two-star rating (30 percent chance of rollover). Army Humvees are at the three-star rating, he said.