Murphy's Law: January 21, 2004

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In Afghanistan and Iraq, vehicle accidents have been killing and injuring more troops than enemy action. While much effort has been put into protecting troops from enemy attack, it has been difficult to get troops to concentrate on the bigger danger of traffic accidents. To avoid enemy attack, especially in Iraq, troops will often drive at high speeds and in a reckless manner. Iraqi drivers are also known for aggressive driving and this simply increases the danger for Americans. The situation is made worse by the large number of night time operations, where vehicles often move at high speed, with no lights, and the drivers depending on night vision devices to see what's ahead of them. The night vision devices distort, in a deceptive way, what the drivers actually see. This often causes accidents. 

When the combat casualties decline to certain level, the media will suddenly discover the greater carnage from traffic accidents and it will be come an issue. But right now, it's just another danger in the combat zone.

 

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