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-   -   Life's like that: Real life anecdotes (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/53223-lifes-like-real-life-anecdotes-37.html)

One day there was torrential rain accompanied by gusty winds, and for the next few hours the associated problems included waterlogging in low-lying areas, uprooted trees, fallen branches, electricity supply disruption, and generally slow-moving traffic.


The next day, two co-workers met up in the cafeteria. Their conversation veered to the previous day's rains.

"It rains only because good people like you are still around".

The other responded, after a thoughtful pause: "Do not say that publicly, otherwise the authorities might point to me as the root-cause for all the rain-related problems seen yesterday".

This is a conversation between me and my 5 year old during an OTR session..
Have added subtitles since the conversation is in local langauage.. rl:

https://youtube.com/shorts/PEkb7vsBz_w

More important question - why are you doing an OTR with a 5-year-old? I'm a noob with regards to offroading / OTR events so don't know if children participating in OTR events is extremely common; if it is so, apologies if my reply comes out unnecessarily rude. But I really wonder if it is worth the risk of taking such a small kid in such an event/ride. My first thought on seeing this video was the kid is talking sense (in asking to walk instead of being in the car).

This is common and he was properly belted. All required safety precautions are taken wrt adults and kids.. This is not his first OTR he has been accompanying me from when he was a 2 year old.
If the obstacle is risky we always ensure the kids are off loaded.

What risk?

I've never done an OTR event, or even taken any actual OTR instruction (maybe one day, before I get really-too-old) but my first "driving" experience was sitting on my dad's lap, driving around far fields. My parents were quite adventurous, and many of our holidays involved regular driving on rough farm tracks. Even though seat belts were not a thing back then, I don't think I was ever at risk, and I know my parents would not have put me at risk.

One thing. The risk of collision with another vehicle was zero. And speeds would very low. I would think that a regulated OTR event would be much safer than day-to day on-the road life. I would think that the risk of something like taking a roll is negligible.

I appreciate the concern about safety, but, in this instance, I'm all for youngsters getting that experience :thumbs up

Thad, it looks like you are more Indian than British :)

In most countries, a 5-Year-old without a child seat will be pulled over, and here we are talking about an OTR—the risks - many times more than on the road.

PS: - I can't see the actual seats so apologies in case he was indeed sitting in a child seat.

Yes, it is very common to have kids in Indian offroad events. The excursion type offroad events are quite family oriented and involve very little risk. Competitions are a different matter. This video appears to be an excursion event.

Ayyo, Turbanator! :)

How so, many times more? Getting thrown around a bit, maybe. But not at on-the-road speeds, sure?

It may very well be that I am in need of being educated here. I've admitted to not knowing much about OTR, other than my childhood experiences as a passenger. But how frequent is injury of any kind at such events?

Samurai makes a very good point that this is not competition driving. Where to draw the line? Well, rally driving maybe?

How about sailing? I wish I'd learned to sail as a kid (I did when I was about 30) and many kids do. In close proximity to something that doesn't want to kill you, but is not at all fussed if it does.

Risk can be interpreted in any way we like. How many people do you see here with Car seats anyways, so no fault of OP.


Forgot about the flip, just the belt itself can do unrecoverable harm to the kids, sudden movements at super low speeds :unhappy

It depends on what sort of obstacles one is trying. But I will not recommend anyone buckling their kids and doing anything like this.

Guys, this was supposed to be light hearted exchange between a father and son. I am not sure why this triggered a discussion on safety. This was a an OTR done for the kids to take them around some very simple terrain and give them time to soak up the great outdoors!

If I were someone who didn't put safety first and was willing to intentionally put my son in harms way, don't think I would have signed up for a membership on Teambhp!

I rest my case here and would also like to tell that it is very common to have kids in these soft offroad excursions and overnighters.

Ignorance is bliss (and many a times the basis for most random/no-side-wins arguments). My reply to you was triggered out of ignorance around this sport (if it can be called so); and with that caveat, I'll wholeheartedly accept the points made by you and others who have more visibility/experience with regards to this area. Please ignore this banter and continue on with your plans (on a side note your kid seems to be completely involved in these activities and that's always great :thumbs up )