Stayin’ Alive: Safety
Four-wheeling, even extreme four-wheeling, may be safer by far than the rush-hour commute. For one, you are most often moving at a snail’s pace (much like rush hour, but without the road rage) but the main difference is that you don’t have other people to worry about. No drunken, nose-picking, bebopping, glazed over, nodding off, cell phone addicted, or incompetent drivers to worry about. That leaves 99 percent of the control of nearly every off-highway situation in the driver’s hands. The control freak’s dream!
The very first items on the safety equipment list are your attitude, judgment, and skill. With most of what happens in your hands, you become like the pilot of an airplane. You are responsible for the safety of your passengers, your vehicle, and yourself. In the heat of an adrenaline-charged moment, you may be faced with a decision to abort takeoff in the face of some ribbing from your buddies on the trail.