After reading everyone's posts here, the new comments on Autoblog, a long conversation with Ang on the phone , and thinking about this for the last hour, here are my thoughts:

1) I am a bit concerned that Assemblywoman Field's office's can not provide the name and contact information for the downstate group that provided the data on which this bill is based. Makes you wonder it there really is a group and if a study was really done.

2) If a study was done, why is it now they are starting to contact the grill guard/brush guard manufacturers? Shouldn't that have been done in the original study? Are they just saying this now to put us off or is this an honest effort to do the right thing?

3) bf250 brings up a lot of good points. I don't think we should allow the ban no matter what. What difference does it make if it is strickly for "bling" factor as Jason stated. Everyone should be entitled to modify their vehicle as they see fit provided it is safe based on "factual" data such as the real safety issue with using front axle lift blocks.

4) We have to be careful what we say and that we don't generalize things as they are doing. For example from your original post Ang, "We're talking Lexus & Mercedes types - they'd NEVER take their trucks off road!" Sorry I have to disagree here. There are a lot of Toyota/Lexus owners that do wheel their vehicles as do Mercedes owners. Maybe not as much as other makes, but there are those that do. I was considering getting a Land Cruiser so I am a member of the Gotham City Land Cruisers and believe me they wheel their rigs. My parents own a Mercedes ML and I am on several Mercedes boards and there are ML owners that wheel their rigs. There are even "soft roaders" that are know to wheel. I know of one Honda CRV (yes you read that right) that wheels regularly at Paragon.

5) As I stated on Autoblog, if this issue is the driver of the grill guarded SUV than deal with the driver not the grill guarded SUV. The driver will be an issue weather or not they are behind the wheel of an SUV, car, or motorcycle.

I am sure that if I think about this more I could go on and on, but those are just a few points that concern me about this. Don't get me wrong people I am all for working with whoever is willing to work with us, but we have to be careful as to if they another agenda and what that agenda is.