Just got back from 7 days in the
Vic High Country and 8 days in the
Snowy River area. On the tracks down there we came across a lot of vehicles going the other way and as there is not room to pass some one has to move over to allow the other to pass.
I always work to the rule, If the vehicle is going up the
hill it has the right of way, a vehicle with a trailer has the right of way and the most number of vehicles in the convey has right of way. This is a general rule and at times it will have to be changed because of conditions.
The other thing that I do is when I get to an on coming vehicle I stop and have a chat. This usually goes like this,
G-Day, How is it going? I have X number of vehicles following, how many in your convey?
At this stage a decision is made on who is going to move over to allow the other convey to pass. A call over the UHF has the conveys moving over or moving up behind the trip leader. In the mean time I will ask the other driver where they are going and where they have been. This will give the convey time to move over or move up and the convey moves on. What I don't like is when the other driver after they say that they will wait will move on just after I have moved off. This puts the convey at risk as they are expecting vehicles to be stopped.
This happened after I had to almost force a vehicle, a Disco, to stop. He wanted to know why I wanted him to stop because he knew that I was coming because he picked me up on the UHF. I said that was great but how many vehicles did I have in the convey and when was he going to let me know how many vehicle were in his convey. He was alright but to heck to any one else.
In our discussion he also asked why I had told an other vehicle not to try and drive up
the Monument Track. He had heard me talking on the UHF to my convey on why I was talking to a single vehicle for so long.I told the driver of the Disco that I didn't think that a stock vehicle with road tyres, no other vehicle for support and the driver or passenger had not driven the track before should attempt to go up
the Monument Track with out at least driving down it first. After that the Disco driver said he would wait until all of our convey had passed, but as soon as I moved off he moved as
well.He was alright to heck with anyone else.
This driver is not the normal driver that I come across in the bush, most are very friendly and are only to happy to have a chat. The fact that he was driving a Disco is no reflection on other Disco drivers.
Wayne