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After a deadly crash shut down an interstate, some people got the bright idea to take their soft crossovers off-roading through the desert. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t end well after they got stuck, requiring a group of volunteer off-roaders in the Las Vegas area to go out and rescue them.
Stock car racer Robbie Brewer passes away after crashing.
It happened recently on I-15 outside Las Vegas after a car and a commercial truck collided. Authorities had to shut down the interstate to bring in a medical helicopter, leading to a backup that lasted for hours afterward.
We’ve personally been on this stretch south of Sin City on our way to California when just such a situation unfolded. The interstate becomes a parking lot, and yes, we saw people in their Range Rovers and Jeeps trying to get around the mess using desert trails.
This same sort of thing happened a couple of years ago to some Formula One fans after they attended the Las Vegas GP.
Unless you know the area and have a vehicle that’s set up for those conditions, which means the right tires at a lower inflation than what you’d use on the road, four-wheel-drive (not all-wheel-drive), lockers, high ground clearance, and desert trail experience, doing this sort of thing is a surefire recipe for disaster.
But everyone thinks their Honda CR-V or Subaru Outback is a rugged off-roader because of marketing, ego, or the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Another factor is people from the East Coast not getting how things work in the West. With a smaller population and more land that’s just open wilderness, they don’t understand a lot of the “roads” Google Maps or other navigation apps show are in fact rugged trails.
About the only way to get through those is to have the right vehicle, setup, and know-how.
The volunteer group told 8 News Now they were out rescuing stranded people for about nine hours. We’re pretty sure the interstate was cleared and flowing normally by then.
Images via 9 News Now/YouTube
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