Driving off road comes with all sorts of potential pitfalls that you need to avoid – particularly if you are a first-timer or you don’t have a great deal of experience doing it. Even if you are an experienced driver on other types of terrain, it is still certainly worthwhile ensuring that you make yourself feel calm, collected and comfortable with the new terrain before trying to embark too far upon it. Here are a few mistakes that are made all too commonly in off-road driving.
Underestimating the difficulty
For many first-timers on off road terrain, they simply think that it is going to be like a regular driving experience. However, it can be a lot more challenging than you would otherwise think. Therefore, you need to make sure that you avoid not being prepared enough. Having more respect for it is better than simply rushing ahead and assuming that it is going to be an easy experience with very few issues.
Not driving the right vehicle
You can’t simply drive any vehicle off road. Instead, you should opt for one which has been designed with this purpose in mind such as a Dodge Ram Badlander. As well as picking the right vehicle, you should also ensure that you know all its features and functions that are specifically designed for off-road driving. This way, you can make the most of them and have a better and safer overall driving experience.
Failing to prepare the vehicle
As well as picking the right vehicle in the first place, you also need to ensure that it is fully prepared and will be as safe as you can possibly make it. Part of this comes down to airing down the tires, which is obviously counterintuitive to people who are only used to driving over roads and other flat surfaces. This is done to ensure that they are less likely to burst when you are driving any sharp or rocky terrain, and it should also give you more grip at the same time.
Not packing the essentials
While you can do all the right prep, there is still more that can go wrong on an off-road trip, so you need to make sure that you have all the essentials in your car in case you need them. To begin with, you are going to need a first aid kit, as well as plenty of food and water. Don’t forget about any recovery gear and replacement parts in case you need to make a speedy fix at some point along the journey. At the same time, there is no point loading up the vehicle too much and creating an unnecessary risk by carrying too much weight and making it trickier to go up hills etc.
Not checking the weather conditions
You may go out with all the best intentions in the world. However, if you have not checked the weather conditions ahead of time, it is all too easy to end up in a situation where you are putting yourself at a higher level of risk. If there looks to be any extreme weather ahead of you, it is certainly worth avoiding the trip unless you absolutely have to make it. In the latter case, you need to be even more prepared than you would be in normal circumstances.
Driving too fast
This one will come down to how cautious a person you are naturally, but some people get so caught up in the thrill of heading out off road that they forget about taking additional care and attention to drive at an appropriate speed. While driving too fast comes with risk, you also need to ensure that you are going at the right velocity to clear any obstacles in front of you, ensuring that it is less likely that you will get stuck along the way.
Not making a backup plan
One of the best backup plans that you can make is to simply alert someone else what you are doing and where you are going to be. At the same time, you can also ensure that you have some sort of tracking device with you (as well as a communication device with plenty of charge). This way, if you do get into any problems along the way, you can ensure that you are able to call some help or people know where you are.
If you avoid all of these mistakes, it is much more likely that you will have a safe and happy off road experience.
