None of your argument addresses if the army took due care to manage a reasonably predictable hazard or not which is how safety liability actually works.

Um. It was parked on an AIRFIELD. The airfield was negligent in letting snowmobilers use the field at the same time as letting the military land helicopters there.

That presumes this is a narrow forest trail. That is not where one would land a helicopter. This has to be an area that is well clear of all trees and therefore unexpected obstacles. One might argue about hitting another snowmobile, but hitting this helicopter was like hitting a solid wall with no option to steer…

Almost certainly, civilian medevac uses a very specific chopper,  plus ramming it with a snowmobile probably grounded the Blackhawk until daylight 

Thats a bad take.

Motorcycles are legal. Lots of places don’t even require a helmet. A kei car is safer than a motorcycle. It’s probably no less safe than a 1970 VW. Safer than a Myers Manx-style dune buggy, but they’re legal.  And the average kei car owner probably puts just a few thousand miles per year on it.  Just an assumption,…

look what deez nuts have done on your chin

Same with requiring bicycles to ride in the street with 5,000 lb F150s instead of sidewalks.

How exactly is having motorcycles legal in the US a good idea??? In an accident they are probably the deadliest vehicle you can purchase under any rule. This is why most nations with a national health system shouldn’t allow you to purchase a motorcycle and ride it on public roads. As everyone else will end up paying…

The individual personalities who’ve left Hoonigan, Donut, etc... have specifically put forth exactly that. Private Equity is the grand destroyer of originality, but makes a few people wealthier

We are in the midst of what happens when venture capital ruins brands. The only reason to ever sell to VC is to get your money and get out. After they take over, it is only a matter of time until the brand is dead. They will milk every last cent they can. They will not foster growth or innovation. 

Of all of those things, about the only one that isn’t entirely duplicated by the smartphone the passenger almost certainly already has and is using, is the passenger side environmental controls. And those have existed in many cars for about twenty years, even without touchscreens. I don’t see those even needing the…

Dude, it was just recovering the booster that had a problem. Literally every other company just ditches those into the sea, but since SpaceX has been doing an excellent job recovering those they’re now held to much higher standards. A rescue mission is by no means at risk from this.

It’s kind of odd imagine how the landing of a booster on a drone ship at sea, regardless of its success or failures because it is not a mission critical objective, would be cause to delay any launches. It’s not like humans are ever on board the booster when it makes a landing attempt, and it’s not like this is the…

Australia has similar challenges but gets by on ~10%-15% smaller trucks - but cabover engine trucks are far more here than America which certainly helps.

Looking at American firetrucks they definitely seem to be less densely packaged than foreign equivalents.

Also, why is it everything in North America must be bigger? Our ambulances are also bigger, and our cops require SUV’s because they’re too fat and/or kitted-up to fit in cars like police overseas (or police here 20+ years ago). What a world.

I think NJB makes some good points about fire truck size, especially when larger, more built-up cities in Europe and Asia get by with significantly-smaller vehicles (all while packing all the same doodads and gizmos). Why is it fire departments demand such big-ass vehicles for work in some lame-ass two-storey suburb…

In many markets places you would want to go with this would have quality public toilets.

I’d love something like this. Great for long road trips -- just stop anywhere low key/safe for a boondock quick nap, or use it to take your inflatable SUPs to fun locations. Room to change, sleep, and stash a portable toilet if you really need to. 

I am of two minds here.