Letters - 3/06/08

The ad was better than the show I enjoyed the article about truck advertising ("Engineering an ad," Jan. 10). However, I believe I noticed an error. The ramp is stated to be at a 27.5° angle, but the math does not add up. With a height of roughly 60 ft and a length of roughly 270 ft, the angle would be approximately 12.5°. I believe the percent incline may have been 27.5% which would be an angle of approximately 15.4°, much closer to the calculated angle based on the given dimensions. I may be wrong but something doesn’t seem right. You are correct, the incline was 27.5%, not degrees, a slip made by an editor who is more used to seeing angles in degrees than inclines in percentages. I was excited to see this well written article. Like everyone else, and engineers in particular, I wondered if the tests performed on TV were actually real. The segment about the seesaw indicates that some proprietary safety precautions were taken. The most dangerous test, though, is the ramp where the brakes are tested and the vehicle stops 4 in. from the edge of a ramp leading to instant disaster and death. Advertisers thrive on this kind of sensationalism. There was no indication of any safeties. I have trouble believing there were not some serious safeties used here. Too many factors can go awry. Can you substantiate that some safeties were used? Safety crews deployed some proprietary (and secret) precautionary devices on all the spots, but they were never used, according to the ad agency. So drivers could have been wearing a jet pack and a parachute (highly doubtful), but he never had to use them. So yes, there were safeties used in all the commercials. Sorry if that wasn’t made clear. It’s unlikely