Offroad-Express

After a previous topic showing this photo of a roll over without seatbelts I wondered if some of the more long term 4WDers could share their experience for newer people and help with some guidelines.



It may sound simple WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT but what if you are river fording?
Do you want to be trying to undo you belt if you are half way to the roof full of water?
Are there any places where it's considered safer to not wear one while off road.

Comments would be appreciated.

i wear a seatbelt all the time.. in old rusty for sure..

worst case scenario you undo the belt as the water enters the vehicle.. it wont come in hell quick..

better safe than sorry...

my 2c..

You can run harnesses in your truck provided you have your standard seat belt still in place and opporating correctly.

The way i see it, it may take a couple of seonds extra to get your seat belt off, but if you've bashed your head or worse cause you weren't wearing it, your likely trapped in or under the vehicle because of that anyway.

The 4wd (NZQA) course I attended for work had us make sure the windows were down, and seatbelts off.

DaveM wrote:The 4wd (NZQA) course I attended for work had us make sure the windows were down, and seatbelts off.

Sounds like the course run by experts seems to be completely opposite to the popular consensus here??

I thought there may be some issues round this and there would be a lot of everyone’s own preference, but thought it may be interesting for newbie’s like me to get the facts and make up their own mind.

I would be interested to hear from anyone else who has done a NZQA standards 4wd course to see what they were taught.....

DaveM wrote:I would be interested to hear from anyone else who has done a NZQA standards 4wd course to see what they were taught.....

That would be interesting, was there any paperwork you were given for the course, would be interesting to see what the course outline is.

AlBundy did one and by the sounds of it, he and I would do things differently to the instructor...

Yep, i did that course. For river crossings thats what they recommended. Windows down and seat belts off.

The logic behind that is that electric windows may fail if they get wet, and if the currents strong you may not be able to open the door, trapping you in the vehicle. So windows down.

Other side of the story is that with the windows up you are semi sealed in the vehicle increasing your chances of getting to a point where you can exit the vehicle safely, rather than it immediatly filling with water.

Seat belts are the same, NZQA course says seat belt off for a rapid escape.


Other side is seat belt on to hold you in place should you get rolled in the current, prevents knocking your self out and drowning, you take your belt of when you are ready and exit the vehicle.

With the windows up, you could/should have plenty of time to get your belt of when the time is right.

Leave it to personal preference.

There was lots of stuff on that NZQA course that was not very practical IMHO. Work was payin, so i didn't complain about two days off in Greymouth driving noname road in a work Hilux

WHEN IF ANYONE KNOWS WILL THE NEXT ORE TRAINING DAY IN CHRISTCHURCH BE HELD OR EVEN A LOCAL TRIP WITH SOME OF THE WISER 4WDERS ON IT TO GIVE OUT THESE KINDS OF POINTERS TO NEWBES LIKE MYSELF??????

i would definitely have windows open for a quick exit if need be not sure on the seatbelt though i mean it is quite easy to release a seatbelt and the idea of getting thrown around if i got taken for a ride downstream is not appealing but then why am i worried there is no way my tank would float away

top gear did a test dropping a car in a pool of water and the conclusion they reached was to open the door and get out as soon as possible not the usual wait for the car to fill and equalise as it is to difficult to open the door

How difficult would it be to get your seatbelt undone if you are upside down? i.e you body weight on the release mechanism....

windows down .... i spose i could fold the frond window down.....

mercutio wrote:top gear did a test dropping a car in a pool of water and the conclusion they reached was to open the door and get out as soon as possible not the usual wait for the car to fill and equalise as it is to difficult to open the door

Put yourself in this position, even the most calm head is going to be saying get out of here now when your pride and joy is filling up with water.

I know I would strugle to sit in it amd say to my self, Oh thats right I'm sposed to sit here untill this fills with water and then get out.

billyvanboheman wrote:

mercutio wrote:top gear did a test dropping a car in a pool of water and the conclusion they reached was to open the door and get out as soon as possible not the usual wait for the car to fill and equalise as it is to difficult to open the door

Put yourself in this position, even the most calm head is going to be saying get out of here now when your pride and joy is filling up with water.

I know I would strugle to sit in it amd say to my self, Oh thats right I'm sposed to sit here untill this fills with water and then get out.

lol hahahaha

billyvanboheman wrote:

mercutio wrote:top gear did a test dropping a car in a pool of water and the conclusion they reached was to open the door and get out as soon as possible not the usual wait for the car to fill and equalise as it is to difficult to open the door

Put yourself in this position, even the most calm head is going to be saying get out of here now when your pride and joy is filling up with water.

I know I would strugle to sit in it amd say to my self, Oh thats right I'm sposed to sit here untill this fills with water and then get out.

the thing was they waited for the car to sink to the bottom of the pool and waited for te car to fill with water to do the equalising thing but they still couldn´t open the door richard hammond had to make use of the optionally installed diver in the back seat with an air tank

I jumped into a flooded river a couple of years ago when a hilux tipped upside down, all that was visable was the wheels sticking out of the water, I grabbed a big rock as I went in as his windows were all wound up, we just managed to get the drivers door open enough for him and his dog to get out

Definately a believer of windows down for rivers

I prefer sunroof open, carpets dont get wet then...

Although if someone knows where to get one of those red hammers they have in buses for breaking windows, I'd buy one.

wjw wrote:I prefer sunroof open, carpets dont get wet then...

Although if someone knows where to get one of those red hammers they have in buses for breaking windows, I'd buy one.

Keep an eye on Trade Me.
I got a new one from there with built in web cutter for around $15. Not exactly heavy duty, but better than nothing.

Tempted to go find some windows to test it on

me and RolloverRover spent yesterday bounding about in the Scrub and sanddunes near Wangavegas, seatbelt was on and pulled as tight as I could gettit around the bulge! Ok, no river crossings, but dont want to get me beautiful head swacked on the door frame, either!!!

Like DB sed, each case and situation on its merits.

wjw wrote:
Although if someone knows where to get one of those red hammers they have in buses for breaking windows, I'd buy one.

Hey guys, can get these thru Transport tools & Parts in Byron St ChCh..about $35ish i think..

MudBum wrote:

wjw wrote:
Although if someone knows where to get one of those red hammers they have in buses for breaking windows, I'd buy one.

Hey guys, can get these thru Transport tools & Parts in Byron St ChCh..about $35ish i think..

Cool....

wjw wrote:I prefer sunroof open, carpets dont get wet then...

Although if someone knows where to get one of those red hammers they have in buses for breaking windows, I'd buy one.

Mitre10 Mega have a nice yellow one with seat belt cutter, window smasher, LED torch and red strobe with magnetic base - cost abot $29 from memory.

BrentC wrote:

wjw wrote:I prefer sunroof open, carpets dont get wet then...

Although if someone knows where to get one of those red hammers they have in buses for breaking windows, I'd buy one.

Mitre10 Mega have a nice yellow one with seat belt cutter, window smasher, LED torch and red strobe with magnetic base - cost abot $29 from memory.

settle down guys, the officious amongst us will be adding it to the list of "required" stuff!!
soon we will need a trailer to carry the safety/recovery gear. Fer chrissake, hide this thread from OSH!!!!

i dont wear one unless i think i will roll.. but actually very seldom ever wear it...i dont mind sitting on the drivers window occasionally..

but i should be locked up....

As another turn to this, I have taken to wearing my seatbelt all the time while 4WDng, not an easy habit for me as I was a courier who spent most of my time at work not wearing one.
One fun drawback I have found is that with the very handy retracting belts, they don’t roll out so well when you are on some weird angles and have got out for some reason.
I know how they work but it's annoying when you have to try to get it on after it's locked on.

As another turn to this, I have taken to wearing my seatbelt all the time while 4WDng, not an easy habit for me as I was a courier who spent most of my time at work not wearing one.
One fun drawback I have found is that with the very handy retracting belts, they don’t roll out so well when you are on some weird angles and have got out for some reason.
I know how they work but it's annoying when you have to try to get it on after it's locked on.

I just put a clothes peg at the right place so that it doesn't retract past what is comfortable. It means you get a bit of slack when its not on, but I prefer that to a seatbelt tightning up past comfortable all the time on funny angles.