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What does off-road mean and what is an off-road vehicle?

from Western 4W Driver #123 Spring 2022

by Vanguard Publishing Perth

from Western 4W Driver #123 Spring 2022, page 178

Article from: Western 4W Driver #123 Spring 2022

Silly Snaps

What does OFF-ROAD mean and what is an OFF-ROAD VEHICLE?

BY DR JOHN COLLINS

Recently this question has cropped up repeatedly, so it is timely to explore what offroad means in the context of responsible four-wheel driving and explore possible definitions.

We know that definitions can be vexatious topics as many people have a tendency to use highly specialised and often technical terms out of context. That said, there are very few English language words that have or retain a single meaning as our language is dynamic with word use and meaning continually changing over time. I’m confident that readers will be able to point to many examples, but one of my favourites is “decimation”, which is often used as a synonym for “devastation” in conversation and/or media reporting. This invites spleen from some linguistic enthusiasts who cling to the historic barbaric ancient Roman practice of executing one in every ten soldiers as a form of military punishment. But relax, for according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it's now totally fine to use “decimate” as a synonym for “devastate”. There are many other tricky English words such as when, a, person, use, tricky, or word, all of which have multiple meanings, so we use context to understand the speaker’s intent. For this reason, the first step to deciding what offroad means is the review of some of the legislative or government definitions that are used in Western Australia to provide conversational context. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the purchases of four-wheel drive vehicles registered under the Road Traffic Act 1974 (RTA) as a growing number of people want to enjoy off-road or fourwheel driving. At the same time, there has been increasing public concern expressed about the environmental damage that can and is being caused to coastal, hilly, and wetland areas by irresponsible driving of a variety of motorised recreational vehicles. Communities also express concern about safety issues relating to conflicting use of the environment particularly in coastal areas that has resulted in land managers excluding off-road vehicles in Western Australia and in other Australian jurisdictions. To mitigate damage resulting from inappropriate off-road vehicle use, considerable funds are spent by all levels of Western Australian government to restore damage being done by off-road vehicles. Organisations such as Track Care WA Inc., the Western Australian Four-Wheel

Drive Association, other four-wheel drive clubs, and the Recreational Trail Riders Association all seek to promote responsible four-wheel driving and trail bike riding on publicly managed land. To define the term “off-road” and then to describe the types of vehicles likely to be involved in off-road driving it is essential to define the term “road”. In the Western Australian jurisdiction these three legislative instruments need consideration: • The RTA in section 5 includes any highway, road or street open to, or used by the public. • The Land Administration Act 1997 defines a road as land dedicated at common law or reserved, declared or otherwise dedicated under the Act as a road, street, or thoroughfare for pedestrians or both. • The Local Government Act 1995 does not define a road although there is reference to public throughfares and (obliquely) to those throughfares that are dedicated as roads. While many people still refer to “gazetted roads” or “public roads” these are outdated terms as there is no longer any requirement to publish road details in the Government Gazette or to give a dedicated road an identification number. Roads under these three Acts can be best described as dedicated roads being Crown Land set aside as a road (road reserves) and increasingly, Main Roads WA and/or local government prefer the term “dedicated road” to describe the infrastructure they manage. A significant portion of the roads and trails used by recreationalists are outside of the jurisdiction of the three Acts outlined above. Roads and trails within land managed by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) are regulated by the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 (CALM Act) together with Regulations 51 - 57 (Division 2) within the CALM Regulations, and Corporate Policy 40: Road Management. These prescriptive requirements are then used together to guide motorised vehicle-based activities within the CALM Act land estate. Simply, all vehicle users of roads and trails within CALM Act land estate are required to comply with the RTA. What is an off-road vehicle? According to Australian Government Road Vehicle Standards (Classes of Vehicles that are not Road Vehicles) Determination 2021 definition, an off-road vehicle means a vehicle that has at least four of the following five characteristics when the vehicle is at unladen mass on level ground, with the front wheels in the straight ahead position and the tyres inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure: (a) approach angle of 28 degrees or more; (b) breakover angle of 14 degrees or more; (c) departure angle of 20 degrees or more; (d) running clearance of 200mm or more; (e) distance from the ground to the lowest point of any suspension or drivetrain component of 175mm or more.

Approach angle Departure angle

Breakover angle Vehicle diagram depicting approach, breakover and departure angles from:

Road Vehicle Standards (Classes of Vehicles that are not Road Vehicles) Determination 2021 (legislation.gov.au)

The CALM Act policy road guidelines describe “off-road driving includes

accessing roads or tracks closed to the public or driving where there are no roads, e.g. across vegetation, beaches/

sand or rock”. It is worth noting that the closure of access to the public of CALM Act roads or tracks may be done by departmental signage or barrier, for example, “management track”, “authorised vehicles only”, “no access” types of signage. CALM Act road use is subject to users being fully compliant with the RTA and/or The Control of Vehicles (Offroad Areas) Act 1978 unless with written permission of the DBCA Regional or District Manager. Underage and unlicensed drivers are not permitted to use CALM Act roads unless this is authorised by The Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas) Act 1978. Simply, any closed road, track or trail on CALM Act managed land estate cannot be legally accessed in a vehicle by any member of the public unless permitted by the relevant DBCA Regional or District Manager. Any road, track or trail cannot be used by a vehicle off road registered to be compliant with The Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas) Act 1978 unless the area is register as an off-road vehicle area. No unregistered vehicles can legally access CALM Act land estate. According to the TENDING THE TRACKS: A strategy for community-based management projects for the off-road environments between Wilbinga and Dongara, which was an alliance supported by the Northern Agricultural Catchment Council (NACC), the Australian Government National Landcare program, The Western Australian Four Wheel Drive Association, Track Care WA Inc., the Conservation Council of Western Australia, and local coastcare groups in their strategic plan stated that:

1. Off-Road Vehicle Road or Trail: A multiple purpose corridor that is open to recreational travel by an ORV that is designated or managed by or for the managing authority of the property that the trail traverses for ORV use. 2.Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) is a motor driven, off-road recreational vehicle capable of cross-country travel without benefit of a road or trail. An ORV is a motorised vehicle operated primarily on land, marsh, wetland or other natural terrain. ORV includes a two wheel, three-wheel, four-wheel, other multi-wheeled, tacked or multi-tracked vehicle, motorcycle, dune buggy, amphibious vehicle, ground effects or aircushion vehicle and any other means of land transportation deriving motive power from a source other than muscle or wind. By definition, ATVs, UTVs, side by sides, RZRs®, ROVs, motorcycles and mopeds are all considered ORVs.

ORVs registered for road use comply with the requirements of the Road

Traffic Act 1974.

It remains unclear to me why there is controversy among motorised recreational drivers and users about the definition of what off-road means and what is an off-road vehicle. It is disappointing to note significant effort, time and fiscal resources being used that, in my opinion, would be better applied assisting land managers, be they private or publicly owned, to help educate users and undertake volunteer projects to mitigate damage done by a few individuals. Surely, a positive user engagement model that creates tangible on-ground solutions is preferable to devoting spleen to solving a problem that does not appear to require a solution given the investigation and the preceding report?

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