Driver’s Education: Off-Roading Casualties

Not all driving occurs on a public road. Driving can occur on water, sand, ice and air platforms. Off-Roading lessons are not seen as driver education because it is not as common. However thousands of lethal off-roading deaths happen each year. In fact, over 13,043 all terrain vehicles deaths have happened between 1982 and 2013. That’s an average of 622 deaths every year. In 2013 alone, 99,600 people were treated in emergency rooms for off-roading-related injuries. To deepen the statistics, it is noteworthy because one in four of those deaths involves a child under age of 16.

Off-roading has been a significant part of my life. My family and I engage in dunning, which is multiple mounds of sand formed by the wind, which are often found in deserts. People often bring sand rails, quads, dirt bikes along with motorhomes,trailers and tents to camp and to get away from everyday life. For all purposes, I had a four wheeler myself. It was red with black and yellow accents. Every time I got onto it, my dad would remind me of the importance of keeping not only me, but everyone else around me safe.

Whether you’re off-roading or on a main road, driving education plays a crucial role in reducing the number of driving deaths. As many car accidents happen because of uninformed drivers, it has been proven that people who do not take a driving school course, on or off roading, are 75 percent more likely to get a ticket and 24 percent of those people are in a high percent to get involved in a fatal accident. The main purpose of driver’s education is to help you gain the foundational skills to drive safely. Once you gain those skills and the experience, you will gain the confidence and become a self-aware driver. Building these foundational skills are essential for you to set the tone of your driving life as you will continue to use these skills for eternity.

Before I would step into my four wheeler, I would always have to wear closed-toed shoes, a proper fitting helmet, and be fully clothed for the protection of myself. While these are things that you can do to protect yourself, the government can also enforce protective measures in our community to keep our passengers safe. For an off-roading stand point, it is required to have a universal safe vehicle standard in all automobiles taken to go off-roading. Any machine under 1000 cc’s (which stands for cubic capacity) you have to wear a helmet. Age restrictions are also required for the use of an off-roading automobile. For example the age-restriction for a kid side by side, RZR 170 is 12 years of age. They are required to wear a helmet as the weight of the vehicle is under the required cc capacity. For anyone over the age of 18 riding a Polaris RZR 1000, it is not required by law to wear a helmet because of the weight limit, however in any vehicle that is operated out in the sand dunes, it is highly encouraged to do so. It helps lessen the amount of accidents if one was to occur and prevents injuries to the head as a serious crash can cause permanent brain damage and/or death.

Because of my experience with duning, unfortunately I have seen many occasions of irresponsible driving out on the sand. Since going to the dunes is seen as a vacation, many people over drink and as a result they become drunk. What many people do is drive for an extended period of time then stop to take a drink break. While they are not drinking and driving, the alcohol is still under their influence once they start driving again. Another incident of irresponsible driving is with one of my close friends. He was not too far from our campsite and got into his RZR to go for a ride. On his way back, he was doing small donuts just for the fun of it. Once he was finished, he made a sharp turn and his vehicle fell over to the side. Thankfully because his accident was not severe, him and his vehicle were okay. However, if he had not had a helmet or a seatbelt on. We could have dealt with a tragic problem.

While many people may not consider duning to have roads, there are many paths and roads engraved in the sand for you to follow. Once you get into the popular parts of the sand dunes, such as vendor row, traffic monitors and precautions are put in place to ensure safe driving. To guarantee proper driving on and off roading, you can always take defensive driving courses to become a better driver. Making sure to learn information about your vehicle and how your vehicle operates will protect you and other people around you. Driving involves multitasking and overall being aware of your surroundings inside and outside of your vehicle can shelter and prevent thousands of accidents from happening in the future.