The numbers game:After reading Michael Roberts's story and the letters that followed, I must respond. Almost three-quarters of all accidents involve automobiles. Five out of seven people drive passenger cars. Eighty-one percent of all fatal accidents involve autos. With numbers like these, which are hard to ignore, it is no wonder that 14 percent of Colorado's driving population chooses to drive SUVs. Including myself. I would rather the odds of surviving a crash be in my favor with all of you mindless, cell-phone-toting, rear-view-mirror-primping Parnelli Jones wannabes driving around in cars. Dangerous people drive all types of vehicles, not just SUVs. Since there are more cars than SUVs on the roads of Colorado, I assume there are more maniacs driving around in cars. The numbers speak for themselves.
Mr. Lieberman, move to Russia. Mr. Bostwick, China is calling. And Mr. Spetnagel, please join the 250,000 Californians who introduced us to road rage and twenty-lane freeways, head west, and keep driving your econo-coffin until the water is over your head.
Mark Mueller
Denver
History repeats itself:Michael Roberts covered SUVs about as completely as anyone could. Good job! As I read, I kept thinking how we went through many of the same issues in the late '70s and early '80s as the gasoline crunch and ensuing price increases drove millions into the compact-car market. Suddenly there were dozens of consumer groups releasing reports claiming that the folks still driving Cadillacs, Lincolns and trucks were killing people with their oversized vehicles. Cads and Lincs, it was purported, rode so much more smoothly than the smaller cars that drivers of those vehicles were said to be unaware of how fast they were going or were led into a false sense of security, thus enticing them to drive faster. Those transitioning from larger to smaller cars were purportedly equally unprepared for the differences in handling in adverse conditions. Front-wheel drive vehicles were also appearing in greater numbers, exposing drivers to unexpected handling traits. The naysayers were having their heyday then as they are now, but the real bottom line has not changed: Any lack of respect for the road, the vehicle, mother nature or other drivers while behind the wheel of any vehicle is a recipe for disaster.
Cal Anton
Redondo Beach, CA
Pothole patrol:Do you think the reason there are so many SUVs in the metro area is a response to Denver's lousy winter street maintenance?
Jim Dora
Aurora
The brown cloud crowd: Each and every time I see an SUV go up and down our roads, I start to chuckle. Why? Simply because it reminds me of the bad old days of the late 1960s and early- to mid-1970s, when the gas-guzzling, ghetto-cruising tuna boats ruled the roads and forced gas prices to skyrocket. If one thinks the air is polluted now, wait until there are two SUVs in each and every household garage in China.
Arthur Kerndt
Denver
Vanilli Flavoring
Loose lips:Quite by accident, I stumbled upon James Mayo's March 2 "Risky Business," about the young rapper Dannell McNeil starting his own record label. I was shocked to find my own name connected to it. I assure you that I have neither met, nor ever even heard of, Mr. McNeil. Your article states that I was "the producer who had an important role in the development and production of Milli Vanilli"; I assure you that this is absolutely false. I was Milli Vanilli's manager once they came to the United States from Europe. Upon learning of their lip-synching shenanigans, I was actually instrumental in the real truth coming to public light. I had no involvement whatsoever in the production of Milli Vanilli music, as it was a finished project out of Frankfurt, Germany, via producer Frank Farian, before I even met or signed the duo.
Again, I have never met, or even heard of, Dannell McNeil, and I resent his implying that I had any interest in, or knowledge of, his music. Incidently, I grew up in nearby Colorado Springs, which is why the article happened to pass in front of me in the first place. Just wanted to set the record straight.
I am currently working on an autobiographical screenplay called Blame It on the Rain, which is based on my real-life Milli Vanilli adventure in the pop-music business. It's a terrific story, and if you saw the VH-1 "Behind the Music" special on the duo, you know that it's a heartbreaking one as well. I have no doubt that it will be a terrific movie one day.
Todd Headlee
Venice, CA
Laura Bond responds: It's understandable why Mr. Headlee wouldn't want to be confused with Frank Farian, the German producer who first groomed Milli Vanilli's two braided beauties for pseudo-stardom. According to writer James Mayo, his story's reference to a relationship between Dannell McNeil (aka hip-hop artist Dez) and Headlee was based on interviews with McNeil. But Headlee tells me that he could not have met McNeil in any music-business capacity during the past decade: He dropped out of the industry "pretty much the day the world found out about the lip synching" in 1990. Despite repeated efforts, McNeil could not be reached for comment. Perhaps we should blame it on the rain?
