Thread: Sand dune flag: Any alternatives?

Forty years ago I spent two years working in the Simpson Desert - nobody had ever thought of these gadgets then: we (actually our bulldozing contractor with two of their own vehicles) managed one head on collision on top of a sand dune in that time. It is likely that one of these flags may have stopped it happening.

John

I think the flags do help. Granted they are not perfect, but every split second counts, and going up and down dunes, you WILL see the flag before the rest of the car.......providing you are looking ahead of course.

It's good too when people let you know if others are following, especially on tight tracks. Funny thing I have found is it tends to be those with older and often smaller vehicles that tend to be more considerate at doing this.

Originally Posted by Numpty's Missus

One of our friends has a very long piece of bamboo that he picked up on the side of the road somewhere ( now HE is tight!! ) and he puts a flag of a piece of bunting on the top of that....whole setup cost zilch

Personally I don't think they are even worth bothering about

And thats why accidents occur!

Complacency is the leading cause of accidents...

Sand flags save people and vehicles from injury. Fact...

If you were a bit closer, you could have a length of bamboo from my front yard, the bamboo is taking over! and some stalks are about 10 metres long!

Go to a pawn shop, find an old beach rod for maybe $10 - $20.

GQ

Originally Posted by Numpty's Missus

And the evidence and investigations to support this are?........

2 very good friends of mine are Birdsville mechanics.

They report the incidences of head ons from lack of sight is quite scary.

I can always pick out a sand flag coming over a crest long before I see the vehicle... Maybe something to do with my job (we have a mandatory flag requirement).

You can see the flag 'wobbling' along long before you see the vehicle below it.

Several trips across the Simpson have shown that the flag allows you just enough time to dart sideways...

Yes... 90% of the time its not needed...

"But if it only saves you once"

Want pics posted? I have a few of vehicles head on collisions in the Simpson..

Flags on a beach, not as necessary, its flat, you can see the vehicle...
But Robe etc, many a time the flag bobbing above the next dune is the only indication something is there...

Be it on your own head - But if you wish to chance your vehicle and life to save on a $20-$50 pole then so be it...

People are such complacent fools nowadays... Your question above - requiring investigations - proves this....
Why get to the stage of requiring an investigation, how about we prevent it from friggin happening in the first place.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Forty years ago I spent two years working in the Simpson Desert - nobody had ever thought of these gadgets then: we (actually our bulldozing contractor with two of their own vehicles) managed one head on collision on top of a sand dune in that time. It is likely that one of these flags may have stopped it happening.

John

40 yrs ago "Occupational Health and Safety" wasn't even a sentence!

Originally Posted by tombraider

40 yrs ago "Occupational Health and Safety" wasn't even a sentence!

Yet in two years, 25-50 employees, working in the desert with (by current standards) primitive equipment, I can recall only two lost time injuries - one was heat exhaustion/dehydration, the other was a crushed hand, managed by a man I refused to have on my crew (we had two crews) because he was an accident waiting to happen. Had one or two close calls, including one where the Alice Springs office forgot to tell us there was a supply truck on the way - they broke the front axle housing, and had run out of water, and were more than halfway through the beer, by the time they were found.

John