FLEETDRIVE
T
here have been renewed calls for a
national ban of snatch straps following
the death of a 51-year-old man earlier this
year as a part of a vehicle recovery.
Strathdickie man Peter Dilges was killed in an
accident at Billys Creek, east of Hydeaway Bay
in Queensland on March 17, 2018. According to
reports Mr Dilges “was helping a bogged driver
at the boat ramp when he was hit in the head
by a tow point that catapulted through the back
window of the tow vehicle”.
Nine months earlier in June 2017, Chris
Poulsen, 26, was also killed after a snatch strap
snapped and went through the back window of
the towing vehicle, striking him in the back of
the head at Farnborough Beach. In 2011, a WA
mother of three was killed after a snatch strap
sheared off the tow ball and it flew back through
the windscreen, crushing her throat.
And there have been a string of injuries and
incidents recorded right across Australia of
snatch straps becoming loose and injuring
drivers, bystanders or causing damage to the
vehicle themselves. The frequency of such
incidents has called into question the need for
alternative measures.
James Gorrie is an experienced 4WD trainer
who recommends that drivers “only use the
snatch strap as a last resort.
“People should try using other recovery
methods such as, electric winch, hand turfer
or reducing tyre pressure to remove a bogged
vehicle,” he says.
ISSUE 13 2018 / WWW.AFMA.NET.AU
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