The saying we can be our own worst enemy comes to mind here….The VSI 50 and associated discussion prompts me to put this out there….
If people want to continue to be able to modify 4WD vehicles, regardless of what that modification is, we need to assist in the formulation of guidelines that will enable us to do that. And you usually only get a
seat at those discussions when you can bring more to it than just ‘this is our right’ as distinct from ‘we have answers and solutions’.
It is all
well and good to focus on the Minister calling us ‘hoons’ (surely we aren’t that precious to let it affect us that much), but that won’t resolve this or other issues relating to 4WD vehicles used for
recreation purposes.
Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter whether 1 or 100 lifted 4WD vehicles have been involved in a fatality, the tide of public opinion is against us, regardless of how unjust we feel that opinion is.
Okay, so it might not be a popular view in a 4WD
forum to suggest that maybe it isn’t a bad thing that there is a set of standards that should govern modifications, even driver standards. And maybe, many in the community have every right to question whether some of these vehicles with major lifts have a place on our suburban roads or whether those driving them have demonstrated, to a certain standard, that they can handle them.
But simply ‘mega-phoning’ about our rights from the tallest building will cut it little in the sway of public opinion; or with the politicians who make laws based on the sway of public opinion.
What has to happen is that we, as 4WD drivers, via our clubs and associations, need to assist in formulating guidelines around modifications and possibly even licensing. After all when Toyota, Nissan, or any other car manufacturer designed a four-wheel drive, they did it to a standard that has been tested and proven to be of an acceptable safety standard.
If we are going to argue our ‘right’ to modify and drive these vehicles on the road, we will need to assure the general
population that there is a standard to which they have been tested following modification and, importantly, that those driving them are competent to do so. This may even mean that some modifications simply won’t cut it for general road use.
But until there is a willingness to go down this path the ‘rights’ of recreational four-wheel driving will continued to be eroded away….
And it is good to see Four-Wheel Drive NSW & ACT taking an active role in this current issue regarding
suspension modifications…but the issue is bigger than this single issue.
The ball is firmly in our court……. So what are the answers and solutions?
Hopefully some food for thought!