Fred,
If you work on CRJ's as a mechanic, you should know that to activate an aircraft ELT requires a significant impact in a specific direction, as in straight ahead. I would hope that a forklift or other machine driven into the side of an airplane would'nt set one off. It sure shouldn't. My comments, by the way, were relevant to the system itself, not the ELT's. I have no experience with the ELT's themselves, though I've been carrying a 406 PLB for some time now.
By the way, what airline do you work for? And who checks out the ground service drivers?
George, make yourself happy. There are some others around who went through the initial ELT program also, and may not have seen it the way you did. So be it, it's all spin at this point anyway.
You are correct that politics drives a lot of this stuff, but it isn't always lobbyists, sometimes it's just plain dumb Congresspersons, looking out for the best interests of themselves, they think.
In any case, it's all a moot point. The next generation ELT's are on their way, and if you want to have an airworthy airplane, one of these days you'll have to own one.
Welcome to the world of aviation.
Mike