Calls for a special license to drive 4x4s in Australia are growing as many drivers plough off-road on their outdoor adventures.
There are fears too many drivers are getting stranded on beaches, bushlands, and muddy roads, and outdoor enthusiast Pat Callinan has a solution.
He wrote in his blog that a new license should be introduced to educate drivers about the risks involved in going off-road in a 4x4.
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On Pat Callinan’s 4x4 Adventures, he said: “This can satisfactorily ensure that any would-be off-road driver has basic knowledge of vehicle dynamics off road, and hopefully a healthy respect for the environment they are driving in.”
Callinan said that while a license needs to be obtained for some heavy vehicles, it’s a ‘broad stroke of the brush’.
He added that national parks and state forests have trouble keeping track of monitoring cars that enter the land, leading to ‘unsealed’ roads.
He said: “At the moment the Australian Bureau of Statistics doesn’t distinguish privately owned vehicles between road-oriented cars or heavily modified for off-road vehicles.
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"There could be a dozen of us, there could be 300,000. Maybe a couple of million.”
He recommends Australia should introduce a new license tier to ensure that all drivers know how to navigate their environments when driving in difficult terrain.
“This can satisfactorily ensure that any would-be off-road driver has basic knowledge of vehicle dynamics off road, and hopefully a healthy respect for the environment they are driving in,” he said.
Over the long Easter weekend, one Queensland company recorded 11 calls of drivers stranded off-road.
Director of Driving Solutions James Stewart told the Daily Mail Australia that purchases for off-road vehicles had soared post-lockdown as many wanted to travel the country while international borders were shut.
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“There's more people travelling around Australia so the number of bogged vehicles is more visible,” he said.
Stewart revealed that due to the new model of 4WDs, drivers were becoming ‘overconfident’ and were neglecting proper training for their new car before embarking on road trips.
“The cars [4WD's] are more compatible [with off-road terrain] now and it makes drivers more comfortable and overconfident. Eventually conditions are catching people out.
“They [drivers] then usually give us a call and think, 'Oh s**t, I wish I had done this course'".
Charisa Bossinakis