Thanks to the people at Dunesafe.com for a lot of info they have given me for this section. I highly recommend that you stop by their site and get even more valuable information on ALL aspects of off roading and duning in general.

                            

It’s pretty hard to find the beginning of where to start with safety in sand rails. Everybody has things they do every time they get in their car that some people never think of doing. The plan, like every other aspect of this site is to learn and share from all the other people who have, and HAVE had below10K cars.

Or sure one of the first things you do before you take off is put on your harnesses. Hopefully a whole section will be up soon. One thing learned a lot when I was putting my car back together was just the mounting of the harnesses. This diagram from Simpson is a great tool I used when installed MY harnesses.

                                                 

Another thing I never thought about until last year was wrist restraints. I have always had them on my Odyssey. They attach to my steering wheel on my Odyssey where I don’t need my hands for anything else. I wore them as a passenger just a month ago. I was able to scratch my head, adjust my goggles, and reach for the grab bars without feeling tied down. I’ve read where drivers have found that after their first run they were use to them, and had no problems at all doing everything it took to drive their cars.

                                                                           

                                                I think they are high on the list things to add to my car.

 

Still on harnesses. Children don’t seem to fit so well in the seats used for adults and the harnesses often time don’t fit them as they should. Crow makes a sternum strap that pulls the two shoulder straps together to help keep the small ones in. In combination with a seat pad, made by most seat manufacturers do a great job keeping the little ones in.

                                                                                           

For even smaller children Simpson has a child racing seat.  It even has a cup holder. I found this one at Summit racing.

                                                                                 

I can’t say Helmets are a bad idea either. Wen I first got my car only had about an inch and a half of head room. Now that I have a good four more inches I’m gonna be sport’n a skull cap. I see some people that use the full face style but I don’t see going that extreme Again I can see there being an argument for or against the use of helmets, full face or skull caps style.

                                                                                                                            

The biggest issue I know of when driving is knowing what’s on the other side of the hill your about to crest. Even if you’ve been in that same exact area a dozen times the same weekend there is no reason to go straight over the top. If your on a ride. By all means when you get to the top turn along the ridge either to the right or to the left. This is good a few reasons.

You don’t know if someone is on the other side.

The other side could have changed since the last time you were there.

You MAY not be where you think you are. You always have time to roll off the back side and gain speed. You may not always have the chance to stop before your launched into a nice steep side of a bowl

                                                    

A few basics.

NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE.

YOU MUST, BY LAW, have a red or orange flag mounted on a mast(whip) 8 feet from the ground.

Carry a B.C. rated fire extinguisher.

ALWAYS USE A SPOTTER WHEN YOU JUMP!!!

Some extra stuff to think about

Use a battery box

Show your passenger where the electrical and fuel cut off switch are incase you can not get to them.

Help your passenger get their harnesses on BEFORE you get yours on.

Take water with you on your rides.

Never dune alone.

Carry a cell phone

Carry a GPS.

Of course I could not possibly cover everything. If there is something you would like to add please E-mail it to me or add it to the Safety discussion section in the forums.