Electronic Telegraph Tuesday 16 May 1995
ARE off-roaders dangerous? Last year several serious road accidents involving Range Rovers led some people to question the safety of such large, four-wheel-drive vehicles. Now reports of two off-road accidents involving Land Rovers, one of which killed two young Army cadets, are raising further questions.
Last October, Karen Buttenshaw, a 19-year-old student and member of the Oxford University Officer Training Corps, was killed during an Army exercise on Salisbury Plain. Having failed to reach the top of a slope, the Land Rover she was driving rolled back, bounced on to its side and burst into flames. Her passenger and fellow student, Rebecca Norris, 20, died later. Last week, the inquest heard that the fire was probably caused by fuel escaping from a badly-fitted filler cap. Also, Paul McCartney's 17-year-old son, James, escaped with a broken ankle when the Land Rover he was driving across a field overturned recently.
Given the popularity of off-roaders it is natural that such incidents should generate concern, even though it is accepted that these vehicles are safe if treated with respect. There is no suggestion that the venerable Land Rover is inherently dangerous, although it does have its limitations, as Daniel Collins of Fresh Tracks, an off-road centre in Ware, Hertfordshire, points out: "People need to understand that the vehicle is very basic. There was another accident involving the TA a couple of years ago when a vehicle caught fire; the fuel filler cap seal perishes with age, something that has been blamed for a number of fires."
Nevertheless, properly maintained and driven with respect, a Land Rover should be perfectly safe on the terrain for which it was designed.
"The point at which a vehicle will turn over depends on many things," says Nick Argent of Land Rover. "The ground, the number of passengers, luggage, tyres. We test them up to 45 degrees of lean, but the driver's nerve is going to go before that."
Given the Land Rover's legendary off-road capability, how could such an accident happen? Many will question the wisdom of allowing Miss Buttenshaw to drive before she had passed her road driving test, although Sgt-Major Trevor Beardsmore of the Royal Armoured Corps, who witnessed the accident, told the inquest that Karen was due to take a driving test the following week and was a competent driver.
The important question is whether competence on the road is of any value off-road. Without special training, it is very unlikely.
"Tuition is vital," says Argent. "Off-road driving can be hazardous, especially on slippery slopes. People should never venture seriously off-road without training."
No ordinary motorist would imagine that they could safely drive a rally car at 100mph down a forest track just because the car is designed for that purpose. Yet the "go anywhere" image of off-roaders seems to encourage complacency.
"People get the idea that the Land Rover will go anywhere," says Collins. "They watch them doing amazing things at shows, but they don't appreciate that the drivers are very experienced and know the ground in detail.
"It's possible that the people involved in these accidents weren't aware of the dangers. I think the Army's training is dubious. Certain regiments don't have off-road training, and you must show people the difference between a Land Rover and a normal car."
An Army spokesman could not say how many Army personnel received off-road tuition, nor could he shed any light on the circumstances surrounding the accident last October. "A board of inquiry had been set up so I can't comment," he said.
What of the accident involving James McCartney? He was apparently taking a short cut over fields on his father's farm at Peasmarsh, East Sussex. The Land Rover hit some tractor ruts and overturned.
"To roll on tractor ruts you would probably have to be going at a fair speed," says Collins. "A Land Rover is hard to roll because your nerves take over at 15 degrees.
"But even 20mph is fast off-road; the car drifts sideways, oversteers, and you have to keep the power on. If you brake you get a build up of soil in front of the wheels. The soil acts like a tripwire, and the vehicle can turn over."
Nick Argent agrees that restricted speed off-road is vital. "No more than 10-12mph," he says.
The message is clear. A four-wheeled 33cwt military machine full of petrol is not necessarily dangerous. In the hands of an untrained operator it certainly is.
"I don't want to comment on the cadets' accident," says Nick Argent, "but there's a simple technique to coping with stalling on a hill. It takes five minutes to learn."
Five minutes that might, perhaps, have saved two lives.
"WHEN you're driving up a slope you should never stop before the top; the aim should be to get the back wheels over the crest first," "If you can't make a slope and you stall, for example, never try to continue the climb. You must reverse down to the bottom again. First you must hit "Holding the brakes on, select reverse gear to hold the car, then take both your feet off the pedals. You then start the car in reverse gear, using the ignition key. You mustn't use the clutch; your leg may be shaking or your foot may slip off the pedal. In any event the car must be level before the clutch is depressed, because that takes away all your control and gravity takes "You must keep a firm grip on the steering. As with most cars, if you let go of the wheel while travelling forwards the steering will centre itself, but if you do the same thing travelling backwards it quickly goes to full lock, like a shopping trolley. That's true of any vehicle, and if it turns suddenly on a steep slope it could easily roll over."