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I Have No Seatbelts or a Rollbar, But I'm Working on a Spare Tire!
By: Brian "Safety Dude" Pawlak
The title is referring to the human body I reside
in, not my Cherokee. I'd be foolish to travel without seatbelts, a rollbar,
(or hardtop), and a spare in my vehicle. Let's consider a possible
scenario......
After having made your way up the trail, you walk back to
watch others take their best shot at the challenging obstacle. You took
the best line you could find to maintain traction with your tires. The
driver crawling up now is climbing the biggest rock with one front tire high in
the air! As the vehicle begins to teeter you decide to help keep the
vehicle from rolling over. You step beside the vehicle and grab the front
bumper. Just then, not knowing that you are near his vehicle, the driver hits
the gas a little. The vehicle slides off the rock with all four wheels spinning!
You jump out of the way and skin your knee and forearm as you fall against rocks
out of the driver's sight. Looking up you see a large spinning tire coming
toward you! There are many possible endings to this story, and fortunately
it's fictional, but still possible. It's also possible that the driver
knows all of the following:
* How far his vehicle can tilt before rolling
* Everything is tied down securely in case of a rollover
* The trail is such that the vehicle cannot roll down a great distance
* He doesn't care if he rolls over and has experience doing so
* He has test rolled his vehicle in his driveway with no fluid leaks while
upside down
Don't you wish you owned such a vehicle? It sounds like a dream doesn't
it?
As it happened, our fictional character may have been injured
in one or more of the following ways:
* Getting cut on sharp edges of a bumper or fender
* Falling off of the vehicle, a rock, hillside, etc.
* Being run over or rolled onto by the vehicle
* Getting pinched/crushed by moving suspension or drive train parts
* Spinning tires may spit rocks
Although some of us may have extra padding in "our"
seat, or even a spare tire around "our" middle, no one has a seatbelt,
rollbar or crumple zones on the human body they live in. Be very careful
of how you help drivers on the trail. Be sure they know where you are and
what you are doing. Don't step into a potentially harmful situation.
If you and the driver feel a human counter weight is the only way to prevent
further danger, do it safely. Use good footing and hand holds. If
these are not possible, figure out how to make use of a strap, a winch, or a
jack to remedy the situation. In the mean time, keep the rollbar up and
the tires down, unless of course you have a dream vehicle.
Be Safe!
See you on the trail.
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