Family Stuck for 4 days on closed road in Western NSW

The other part of that story was about those who think it is ok to drive on closed dirt roads. Then get in trouble and expect to be rescued when they strike trouble.

Roads are usually closed for a reason and just because one has a limited holiday time doesnt mean that you can flaut the rules. Even if locals do at times. For them it can be a matter of survival

Peter,
I think you'll find that the locals will be more likely to obey the ROAD CLOSED signs than the city "terrorists". The locals know the damage that they will cause by driving on wet dirt roads and they will simply stay put on their property (or in town if that is where they are stuck), until the roads are re-opened.

Not sure about western NSW etc, but I recall that in northern SA and NT, the penalty for driving on a closed road is $1,000- per tyre.....so if you're caught and are driving a vehicle and trailer; you can kiss $6,000- goodbye. Having said that, I have never actually heard of anybody being fined that sort of money, or being fined anything for that matter.

Apparently the fine in SA is $1,250 for driving on closed graded roads.

Hairy,

I like a good play in the mud like most people who frequent this forum but their is a difference between playing and working.

I was recently responsible for an emergency vehicle which became stuck on a rural road. Apart from the stuck vehicle I had a lot of other things to think about; the welfare of the crew who were also stuck, the risk of damage to the vehicle in the recovery operations, but also the risk to the community because this specialist resource was not available to perform it's core function. All these things take from the "fun" that I might otherwise be having while playing in the mud. Then there is the simple point that these officers have families. They could have been missing out on a family get together for a birthday or aniversary. Not to mention the concern that their non-arrival home at the usual time may cause that family.

I accept your argumenbt that they could be having fun, I have managed to enjoy a day out like that in the company car but it could just as easily be that it was the last thing they wanted to be doing.

Duncs

mmmm the fine would without a doubt be the cheaper option, if i reported everyone that we found on a "closed road" i would make someone (shire or council) very rich....

Agreed paying the fine would be a lot cheaper and if they made them pay for the graders etc a lot less people would do it.

It is so annoying to the people who regularly use those roads to have them torn up by people who deliberately drive around them.

Cheers Wilko

"IMHO I dont have a gps and I dont want one, Its not as accurate to being able to read a map properly."
While a good paper map is a neccesity, I don't believe anyone (including you) could as accurately position themselves on it to plus or minus 5 metres like a GPS can ;-)
Cheers Craig..............

Hi Crackles,

Agreed but at least my map will never send me down a one way street the wrong way like a mates did to him.

Cheers Wilko

I missed a turn the other night in the company car. The GPS did not acknowledge that it simply took me 45km to the next town so I could drive around the block. That added over an hour to my trip.

Someone had set the GPS to avoid U turns.

The problem with the GPS is that it does not tell you where you are going it only tells you where you are and what your next turn should be.


Duncs

"The problem with the GPS is that it does not tell you where you are going"
Not quite true Duncs. After selecting your destination the GPS (road navigator) puts a map of the entire route up for you to check to confirm it is where in fact you want to go. If the scale is not to your liking this at the push of a few buttons can be broken down to tell you exactly where you are going with a detailed illustration of every intersection. Then as you are driving it tells you the name of the road you are on at any one time.
I suppose the problem is if we choose not to look at the detail the tool can give, set it up incorrectly & then blindly follow the voice there is only one person to blame. It would be no different to using a paper map, disregard which way north is, then hold the map upside down & proceed to turn left instead of right. And I'm sure plenty of people have done that too ;-)
Cheers Craig.............