Last week a very unfortunate disregard for safety and good driving sense was witnessed, fortunately and luckily, nobody was injured, nor vehicles damaged.

The situation was a series of steep climbs attempts which failed time after time, when the top was not reached the driver reversed his vehicle at a 45 degree angle down the slope. Stopping half way down, he proceeded to reverse horizontally across the side of the dune, in a reckless manner. As we all know, when reversing a vehicle down a dune, we keep the car as straight as possible and the rear of the car pointing down towards the base. This is one of the most basic things we learn when driving in dunes, as quite easily it could quickly turn into a very dangerous situation.

The reason, I bring this to the attention of the forum, is because one of the members in the said private group was wearing a beige UAEOffroaders T-shirt and obviously a member with us. This does not however mean that this was in anyway an official club trip.

Any official UAEOffroaders trip is run under the management of a team of Marshalls and experts, all highly experienced in the technicalities of driving and always keeping safety paramount. Such a blatant disregard to a golden rule "Don't try to overcome gravity when on a slope, turn down" just wasn't in effect, and it wasn't done just once, but repeatedly. Once could be considered ignorance but risky, multiple times is considered stupidity with a total disregard to the drivers own safety and those around him.

To close, offroading can be a risky activity, but using experience, knowledge and common sense we get to reduce the risk and enjoy our passion in a safe manner.
The rules we enforce during our trips are not there to inconvenience or as a control factor, they are there for your protection, therefore if you are out on a private trip, please feel free to use the experience you have gained from the club to keep you safe.

Safe Driving out there......always!!!

Thanks for sharing Lionbar

A well explained situation and the GOLDEN RULE!!! i suggest all the members read this post..........Its worth reading and registering in your mind!!!!

Thanks for sharing Lionbar. Surely it seems counter-intuitive that we have to 'sell' the idea of safety. It should be top priority and concern for everyone in any case. However, looking at the larger objective, I guess it is still worth it to try and sell 'safety' to all stakeholders. Posts like this go a long way in that sense.

Thanks again Lionbar.

Thanks for sharing Lionbar. Surely it seems counter-intuitive that we have to 'sell' the idea of safety. It should be top priority and concern for everyone in any case. However, looking at the larger objective, I guess it is still worth it to try and sell 'safety' to all stakeholders. Posts like this go a long way in that sense.

Thanks again Lionbar.