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Scenario...Rollover what do you do

76zimmer

76zimmer

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1) if you’re the driver; and you know you’re over center and it’s inevitable you rolling over or flipping frontwards or backwards, what are your immediate actions?

2) if you’re a spotter; what direction do you give the driver?

3) if you’re a passenger; what are your actions, how do you prepare?

4) if you’re a spectator what are your actions during and after the roll?

@blazinzuk
 
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I know we have some guys who have been the driver in these scenarios, be great to hear from them


As spectator, first thing is safety
  1. Is the driver okay?
  2. Vehicle stable?
  3. Any fuel or other combustibles that need to be addressed
  4. Don’t rip the seat belt open, the driver falls on their head...
 
Passenger, cross arms over chest, grab harness or handfuls of shirt, and hold on as tight as possible.

Driver, if you know your going over, nothing you can do, loosen up. Let the harness do its job. Bracing will hurt you.

Notice I keep saying harness..... Because you shouldn't be crawling around in a place for that to happen if you don't have one.
 
I ve flopped a couple times, once as a driver, it was in a turn and the tires caught a rut and we flopped on the lid. When we stopped I shut off the engine, and checked on my passenger, once we were both ok, i realized the vehicle wasn't going anywhere, we started to unbuckle knowing we had to brace ourselves on the roof. All was good getting out, then we surveyed the vehicle status and started on pulling the Jeepster over. Waited about 10 minuted, and checked the oil, and it fired right up.
The other time I was a passenger in Kerts Blazer....I was recording so I had my hands braced on the rollbar, and we were in the big gulch on the trifecta? Kert was playin around and flopped it on the side, we both laughed it off, but because it wasn't going to be anything more than a flop we weren't preparing for a rollover or anything extreme. However, good practice should keep your hands off any part of the cage/body that would cause a pinch point. Interior grab handles, seat, or harness would be a good place for your hands. Also don't minimize the fact that you could be hit by loose items in the rig, so secure everything before you put the rig in motion.
 
I think for all involved is not to panic.

In all my time wheeling I haven't experienced a rollover on the trail until Blazer Bash last year. Then I watched two in the Hot Tub on Hell's Revenge. Blazooki's flop was rough, but many jumped into action checking on him first and then focused on the recovery. It all went pretty smooth. When Watson rolled the K30 Convertible it got a bit more serious with a massive fuel leak from the fuel cell. Watson called it out and the rest of the ORD crew jumped into action. Due to the fuel leak the call was made out to the crowd for fire extinguishers for the just in case scenario. Watson got himself out and managed to control the loss of fuel with I think a t-shirt while the rest rigged the truck to Wades and Moonpie for the recovery.

The main takeaway I got from it was the lack of panic. Obviously to many in the group this was not a first-time event. They knew what to do and in what order. It sucked to see each truck go over but the lessons learned were priceless.
 
Once she starts to roll over, if the driver can keep his or hers frame of mind,
hit the kill switch,, pull the battery disconnect ( if equipped ) and hold the brake to possibly keep it from rolling further if it lands on the wheels again.

and, (this one is debatable) let go of the steering wheel and grab the harness straps.. many people have gotten hand injuries due to getting their fingers in the way of a fast spinning steering wheel as the front suspension catches on boulders etc..
 
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ktmoutfront said:
One person in control of the recovery. Suggestions made to that person. Too many people making decisions makes an unsafe scene.
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And this happens every time when there’s others around like stated above try and stay calm and make precise well thought out decisions . I was a passenger in the back of a land cruiser going up WH5 on the FORDYCE creek trail luckily I was a very mild roll only on the side but still very dangerous situation. We were all ok remained calm and recovered the vehicle. Haven’t seen it mentioned if your driving a manual trans a quick push of the clutch in certain situations will bring you back down to earth .
 
76zimmer said:
1) if you’re the driver; and you know you’re over center and it’s inevitable you rolling over or flipping frontwards or backwards, what are your immediate actions?

2) if you’re a spotter; what direction do you give the driver?

3) if you’re a passenger; what are your actions, how do you prepare?

4) if you’re a spectator what are your actions during and after the roll?

@blazinzuk
Click to expand...
The most important thing I didn't hear yet is when you are the driver and you realize it's happening and there's no saving it, let your passengers know to brace themselves. As a driver you always try to save it and sometimes you do so passengers expect no rollover until you tell them it's happening and a warning at that point is important .
Happened last time I was in moab, first time laying it on it's side.
Plenty of close ones before and managed to save it.
 
I'm a bit late to the party but I will respond in two categories, My experience of being inside the vehicle and rolling and Responding to a roll over.

Being inside,
I have been flopped on the side many times but only had a few hard flops/rollovers that were big. I only have one flop under my belt that I knew was going to happen and nothing I did would change it. In that case I stopped, shutoff the buggy, talked with my passenger and then fell over. It was slow, very easy flop. Recovery wasn't bad and having a chance to "discuss" what was happening was nice but a rarity. Every other time I've rolled has been something that I drove until the absolute last second that I could. There is no preparing and thus your self preservation instincts kick in and those are somewhat uncontrollable but also manageable.
As either a driver or passenger: keep your hands and feet inside, try not to "catch" yourself by putting your hand up or out. My wife has a damaged pinky nail from putting her hand on the roof during a 1.75Xs tumble down a steep obstacle after reaching up and getting it caught between a cage bar and the roof skin. Stay calm, I rolled over easy with my 7 year old daughter in the buggy this fall, she really wanted to freak out but the fact that I treated it as just another fun part of the day kept the crying and freak out sort of at bay. When the vehicle stops moving get it shut off, in park, and verify any occupants are OK. If possible call out that everyone is OK in the vehicle, and as was pointed out earlier in the case of Stephen rolling in the hot tub any issues you know of. Keep calm, make sure the scene is safe, unbuckle the down hill passengers first, then uphill second. Be prepared to hit your head if upside down, get out of the vehicle and administer any first aid as needed, it takes some time for nerves and adrenaline to allow someone to know they are hurt. In the case above it was at least a minute or more before my wives finger began to even bleed and even longer before she even felt it. Don't be surprised if minutes later someone goes into shock etc.

Being Outside,
As an observer pay attention to where you are, where others are and what your escape routes are. Look at the lady that was ran over at EJS on Golden Spike as an example of freak things happen and vehicles can travel distance fast. If your not going to pay close attention and just want to chill and hang out get farther away so that the lack of paying attention is safer. That said anyone with basic first responder training will recognize the following;
Try to watch closely to see if anyone sticks a hand or leg out or comes loose from the seat belts, Once all motion is done verify scene safety, don't enter an unsafe scene, try to establish voice contact with occupants, Provided the scene is safe approach the vehicle. At this point things become very dynamic, is there an issue that needs to be dealt with besides basic recovery, injury, fuel leak, battery issue, vehicle stability issue etc. These need to be assessed and dealt with, again secure the scene as a priority. DO YOU NEED TO CALL FOR HELP? Establish this early if there is an injury, it takes time for first responders to arrive. As pointed out above about the fuel leak, Stephen had it called out and was able to get a rag over the leak pretty quick, We called for fire extinguishers and for everyone not needed to stay back. Scene safety!!! Once vehicle/scene issues are addressed and occupants are either safe or being treated away from the vehicle it's time to focus on recovery. Again recovery can be a pretty dynamic situation, but paying attention to winching directions, attachment points to the vehicle and how those are going to move the vehicle, do you need two winches for safety etc. One in charge person as pointed out above, make sure the vehicle is in park/secure and when it does set down on it's wheels it can't keep going.

Cliff notes: Stay calm, try to stay inside the vehicle, secure the vehicle, administer first aid as needed, call for help if needed, stay calm, get vehicle upright.

I'm sure there's holes all over in this but having been through a some amount of first aid training in the last few years as well as years of doing dumb things and rolling vehicles over I feel somewhat uniquely qualified at an amateur level to give advice.
 
One thing I have noticed in rollovers is the driver pushing their feet to the floor to brace themselves causing them to hold the accelerator to the floor the whole time the vehicle is upside down with oil running into the top end of the engine, and then letting the engine scream at full throttle while they are upside down until they finish freaking out.
 
miniwally said:
I'm a bit late to the party but I will respond in two categories, My experience of being inside the vehicle and rolling and Responding to a roll over.

Being inside,
I have been flopped on the side many times but only had a few hard flops/rollovers that were big. I only have one flop under my belt that I knew was going to happen and nothing I did would change it. In that case I stopped, shutoff the buggy, talked with my passenger and then fell over. It was slow, very easy flop. Recovery wasn't bad and having a chance to "discuss" what was happening was nice but a rarity. Every other time I've rolled has been something that I drove until the absolute last second that I could. There is no preparing and thus your self preservation instincts kick in and those are somewhat uncontrollable but also manageable.
As either a driver or passenger: keep your hands and feet inside, try not to "catch" yourself by putting your hand up or out. My wife has a damaged pinky nail from putting her hand on the roof during a 1.75Xs tumble down a steep obstacle after reaching up and getting it caught between a cage bar and the roof skin. Stay calm, I rolled over easy with my 7 year old daughter in the buggy this fall, she really wanted to freak out but the fact that I treated it as just another fun part of the day kept the crying and freak out sort of at bay. When the vehicle stops moving get it shut off, in park, and verify any occupants are OK. If possible call out that everyone is OK in the vehicle, and as was pointed out earlier in the case of Stephen rolling in the hot tub any issues you know of. Keep calm, make sure the scene is safe, unbuckle the down hill passengers first, then uphill second. Be prepared to hit your head if upside down, get out of the vehicle and administer any first aid as needed, it takes some time for nerves and adrenaline to allow someone to know they are hurt. In the case above it was at least a minute or more before my wives finger began to even bleed and even longer before she even felt it. Don't be surprised if minutes later someone goes into shock etc.

Being Outside,
As an observer pay attention to where you are, where others are and what your escape routes are. Look at the lady that was ran over at EJS on Golden Spike as an example of freak things happen and vehicles can travel distance fast. If your not going to pay close attention and just want to chill and hang out get farther away so that the lack of paying attention is safer. That said anyone with basic first responder training will recognize the following;
Try to watch closely to see if anyone sticks a hand or leg out or comes loose from the seat belts, Once all motion is done verify scene safety, don't enter an unsafe scene, try to establish voice contact with occupants, Provided the scene is safe approach the vehicle. At this point things become very dynamic, is there an issue that needs to be dealt with besides basic recovery, injury, fuel leak, battery issue, vehicle stability issue etc. These need to be assessed and dealt with, again secure the scene as a priority. DO YOU NEED TO CALL FOR HELP? Establish this early if there is an injury, it takes time for first responders to arrive. As pointed out above about the fuel leak, Stephen had it called out and was able to get a rag over the leak pretty quick, We called for fire extinguishers and for everyone not needed to stay back. Scene safety!!! Once vehicle/scene issues are addressed and occupants are either safe or being treated away from the vehicle it's time to focus on recovery. Again recovery can be a pretty dynamic situation, but paying attention to winching directions, attachment points to the vehicle and how those are going to move the vehicle, do you need two winches for safety etc. One in charge person as pointed out above, make sure the vehicle is in park/secure and when it does set down on it's wheels it can't keep going.

Cliff notes: Stay calm, try to stay inside the vehicle, secure the vehicle, administer first aid as needed, call for help if needed, stay calm, get vehicle upright.

I'm sure there's holes all over in this but having been through a some amount of first aid training in the last few years as well as years of doing dumb things and rolling vehicles over I feel somewhat uniquely qualified at an amateur level to give advice.
Click to expand...
Good point about the delayed recognition of trauma/shock
 
Anyone riding with me is given a crash course on the operation of the controls and operations of the switches etc in the buggy.

Ignition shutdown, fuel pump switch and main power switch are all located front and center of the dashboard and in reach of both seats.

The battery disconnect lever is routed in between the seats and in reach of by both.

A few minutes of instruction could make a huge difference in an emergency situation if the driver gets knocked out or pinned in a roll over.
 
Im enjoying the education here as much as anybody! Thanks for adding to the discussion, I'm trying to mentally prepare for Moab this year.
 
I have been thinking about how to reply to this thread. Saturday I almost flipped my truck on it's side and potentially down a hill even more...

I was on a single lane road not going to fast that was a left turn down hill blind corner. A braked for the corner, half way through I hit the gas, not to hard or soft but enough to get some wheel speed up. Coming out of the corner I see a atv rider flying in the center straight at me riding double with no helmets. I hit the brake really hard and sense I still have a disc/drum prop valve the rear locked up and didn't come undone being disc/disc...

At this time the rear kicked out and I jammed the brake again quickly to release and hit the gas to bring it around. It went into a over and understeer slide and to not hit the ATV rider I put the gas to the floor and pitched it into a ditch sideways while holding the brakes. My passenger was my little sister who hasn't been in the truck in 15 years I told her to sit on her hands, at this time we were just about into the ditch, the front end slid in and I looked out the passenger window and saw ground, it stopped and I slightly turned the wheel and the truck layed over on all 4. I had to floor it in 4wd to come out of the hole.

This entire time I remained calm and talked to the passenger whipping the truck around and not hitting the ATV riders and saved the truck from a roll over. I chose to shove the truck into a ditch risking a roll to not hit the ATV riders that barely stopped in time. This was my first time being close to a roll over and I did the best thinking and prep I could and drove the truck home.

Not sure if I was in the right or wrong but at the end of the day no one got hurt and we all went home. This is why I need to build another truck...
 
Babaganoosh said:
I have been thinking about how to reply to this thread. Saturday I almost flipped my truck on it's side and potentially down a hill even more...

I was on a single lane road not going to fast that was a left turn down hill blind corner. A braked for the corner, half way through I hit the gas, not to hard or soft but enough to get some wheel speed up. Coming out of the corner I see a atv rider flying in the center straight at me riding double with no helmets. I hit the brake really hard and sense I still have a disc/drum prop valve the rear locked up and didn't come undone being disc/disc...

At this time the rear kicked out and I jammed the brake again quickly to release and hit the gas to bring it around. It went into a over and understeer slide and to not hit the ATV rider I put the gas to the floor and pitched it into a ditch sideways while holding the brakes. My passenger was my little sister who hasn't been in the truck in 15 years I told her to sit on her hands, at this time we were just about into the ditch, the front end slid in and I looked out the passenger window and saw ground, it stopped and I slightly turned the wheel and the truck layed over on all 4. I had to floor it in 4wd to come out of the hole.

This entire time I remained calm and talked to the passenger whipping the truck around and not hitting the ATV riders and saved the truck from a roll over. I chose to shove the truck into a ditch risking a roll to not hit the ATV riders that barely stopped in time. This was my first time being close to a roll over and I did the best thinking and prep I could and drove the truck home.

Not sure if I was in the right or wrong but at the end of the day no one got hurt and we all went home. This is why I need to build another truck...
Click to expand...

This exact situation is what pushed me into organized racing as the only safe place to drive fast. I had one of these exact situations but my oncoming was three bike riders in the sand wash between the end of Golden Spike and the cliff road. When you put my buggy totally sideways in that road you can take all three bike riders out in one shot. I wasn't driving that fast but fast enough to make it look ugly, they were riding three wide across the entire road, had they been in single file or even on the correct side of the road it would have been a simple drive by situation. You can't control the other people and we all need to (I can't believe it's me saying this) slow down to make them safer.
 
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