Dead pom

The mind boggles.

Marble Bar and environs is known to be one of the hottest places in Australia

This is a reminder to all of those people who post questions on this forum about travelling around in the summer months in the Outback of this country.

Take heed all ye fair travellers.

The sage has spoken!

Bob, when are you going on your cross country trip which you spoke about a while ago?

Cheers,
Willem

Always going somewhere

Tragic...those who live in small cool countries have no concept that a line on a map with a road name next to it doesn't mean you can 'just drive down it'.
tourist death

Did you see the other one on the news, about the second one that was found just nth of Broome I think...

Again Car bogged, but this one wrote SOS in the sand and was found by Coast Watch..

I've been out there a couple of times (both with issues also) as I'm sure some of you have too and it strikes me odd that people get bogged in the sand out there. Mud - yes, sand - No !!!
Recently two blokes perished in same area after getting bogged and I believe it was only a matter of letting the tyres down to drive the vehicle out. This is possibly the same scenario which makes it extremely unfortunate indeed.

We forumites are mostly an educated/experienced lot but I often wonder what there is that we can do to prevent this happening to overseas tourists again.Allyn
Some days we are the flies; some days we are the windscreen.

Bob.

When the German woman died near lake eyre the vehicle leasing companies were critiized for not supplying instructions on how to drive and servive our deserts, I think that the recomendations that the corenor made must have been ignored by the vehicle hire industry. We as suposedly responsable people must try to prevent this sad incident from becoming more fuel for the anty 4x4 brigade, May be necesary to force hire car companies to show customers a video in there language of choice about driving techneques and servival stratergy. Eric.

As tragic as this is, and I for one am glad it wasn't me or anyone I know, it should be kept in perspective. He was "out-of-his-depth" here. And unfortunately, here in the great land of Oz, the powers that be seem to be promoting a line of "rest the blame elsewhere for your stupid mistakes". So, in the other case in question, the German lady at Lake Eyre, the hire companies are at fault????? or at least partly because they didn't provide enough tuition? Again this is a very tragic scenario, but people should "Take Responsibility For Their Own Actions!!!!"
The guy in Broome, albeit lucky to be stranded near the coastline, did the right things. The guy in the Great Sandy Desert didn't! And according to the story..

"was attempting to drive from the coast of Western Australia to Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory, a distance of about 1,200 miles.
Instead of taking the paved highway from Perth to Alice Springs via South Australia, he chose to follow rough bush tracks through the forbidding Great Sandy Desert, a vast area of scorched, treeless scrub."

Did he know what he was doing? Did he know what he was getting himself into? If he did, he made bad decisions.... if he didn't, he shouldn't have been there. Either way.... before starting out, would it not have been prudent to get educated on what he was planning to do?

IMHO you can't dive in the deep end of the pool and then blame the pool owner because you can't swim!
Just my opinion
Cheers
Brian

Re Videos etc - FYI SA Tourism Commission and SA Transport have made a video (following the tragic Lake Eyre incident which, I believe was completely due to incorrect tyre presssures) for our international visitors contemplating a trip into the outback. Whilst not brilliant it does try to get the point across.

I am not sure if hire companies have it as compulsory viewing

regards
Mike
Too little time in the bush!

why not a small booklet in each glove box with some basic sevival tips and recovery procedures ,plus a safety check list ,this cant cost the hire companys much and could lead to saving a life or a law suit ,maybe the 4wd assotiation could provide them free as a good will exerciseThis is not my car anymore
Peter York 4x4

Bob,
The guy who survived stayed with the vehicle which is the golden rule as far as I'm concerned, I think that all hire vehicles should have an EPIRB installed as srandard hire gear, this would be a great help. The guy who survived was a survival specialist according to out newspaper reports so if he had done the wrong thing what hope have the majority got.
It's a horrible sensation being stuck, one time I've been stuck on my own I found it particularly stressful because I had the rest of the family with me and my daughteris assuring my wife and step son that "daddy will get us out of here", yea right put the pressure on, I was only in the sand dunes at Lancelin, I got stuck in the bottom of a pudding bowl type dune. I just couldn't climb the wall, luckily I let the tyres down to about 10 psi and managed to climb out successfully, the tyres where originally at road pressures, so it was my fault no problem there. sand is very difficult to drive on and reading dune contours is difficult sometimes with the sun direction and shadows etc.
The guy was recovered in two minutes by the hire company when they towed him out so he can't of been that stuck in my opinion and looking that the photos, letting down tyres clearing sand from the right places would of helped, the news report tells us the guys says he moved 'tonnes" of sandm where from? anyway it doesn't really matter he's safe now, he was lucky, the other guy who went walkabout wasn't as lucky, so sad. Keep the shiny side up

I would think that a good idea for all 4WD hiring business would be to include an EPIRB in the car kit. The hirer should be informed on how to use it and the consequence of mis-use. This would have saved our English mate and all for the sake of $300.

It is always very sad when someone dies so tragically.
This site is frequently read by intending overseas visitors and we often read posts about some ambitious plan they intend to complete in the summer time. To the internationals who may be planning a remote trip at this time of year DON'T DO IT
This is a manificent country but is very unforgivingand you probably won't get a second chance out there.ne cede malis

I like the idea of the survival book in each hire 4WD - multi-lingual. I know we have had the discussion before about whether this list should advocate various things but maybe this is a situation where the collective experience and wisdom of the members of this group might be harnessed to recommend this small step.

I also like the idea of appropriate signage at the start of remote tracks. Even the start of the Plenty Hwy, say, should inform people of what they are in for. I remeber well the sign on the road to Port Warrender: "No potable water. Sandlies and crocodiles abound" So I slept on the roof rack :-)

Lastly, carrying an Epirb (or satphone or HF radio) in certain areas should be a compulsory prerequisite for entry. Only one of the devices necessary per group, but all groups must have at least one of them. There will be people who object to this, but when you consider the cost to the community of search and rescue ops - tough.Bob

surely the hire company would take a bond from the hirer and give it back when all is returned.slavekitten.jpg