When driving over obstacles or rough terrain, keep a firmgrip on the steering wheel. Ruts, troughs, or other surfacefeatures can jerk the wheel out of your hands.When driving over bumps, rocks, or other obstacles, thewheels can leave the ground. If this happens, evenwith one or two wheels, you cannot control the vehicleas well or at all.Because you will be on an unpaved surface, it isespecially important to avoid sudden acceleration,sudden turns, or sudden braking.Off-roading requires a different kind of alertness fromdriving on paved roads and highways. There are no roadsigns, posted speed limits, or signal lights. Use goodjudgment about what is safe and what is not.Driving on HillsOff-road driving often takes you up, down, or across ahill. Driving safely on hills requires good judgmentand an understanding of what the vehicle can andcannot do. There are some hills that simply cannot bedriven, no matter how well built the vehicle.{ CAUTION:Many hills are simply too steep for any vehicle. Ifyou drive up them, you will stall. If you drive downthem, you cannot control your speed. If you driveacross them, you will roll over. You could beseriously injured or killed. If you have any doubtabout the steepness, do not drive the hill.5-18
