Am I overly Cautious ?

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This day and age it does pay to cautious certainly.

I am wondering about your “I wasn’t going to give anybody petrol” reasoning. I don’t carry petrol, but if I came across this situation and they needed diesel I would help them out without a second thought. I know I wouldn’t like to be stranded out there.

I can only assume you wouldn’t give them petrol because of the petrol sniffing issue, but you would have had opal in your jerrycans wouldn’t you ??

Cheers Greg

Hi Robin, yes it pays to be cautious. We travel remotely quite often, and have come across quite a few Aboriginals stopped or broken down. We travel in convoy with at least one other vehicle, and have stopped every time to see what the issue is, but like you always stop in the middle of the road with the engine running. Most times it is either out of fuel, in most cases petrol, and as we have a diesel vehicle, we can only offer bottled water for personal safety, and report them as stranded at the next town/community. A few times it has been a flat tyre, with either no spare, or no jack. We have helped out with the jack, assisting them to change the tyre. But with no spare we can only offer water & report them as stranded at the next community.

When we were travelling The Great Central Road last year, we needed a top up of Fuel at Docker River. There was a sign on the pumps saying no fuel until the next day, however after enquiring inside the store, they advised that this was only for the locals, and they had enough fuel to supply to the tourists.

Macca.

Does sound odd but you never know at least you had another vehicle travelling with you. Depending on the crowd I would ask to turn ignition on and check fuel gauge if they said no then leave. Halls Creek I heard mentioned as being a bit of a sus area as well might even be better to just drive past all the locals for your own safety it's a shame but what can you do with leaches in the outback.

We travel these places as much as most and have done so for a very long time.
We have never had a bad experience and I don't know anyone who has.
Someone on the side of the road gets whatever help we can offer.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome.

G'day Adventurers

Interesting scenario and one that plays out all too often here in the inland Pilbara, a stopped vehicle, lots of people in, on or near the vehicle.

'You got petrol ~ You got food/water the kids are hungry/thirsty' the usual story and it doesn't take much to smell a rat.

The adults in most instances are smoking and drinking, there's always plenty of finances for that, but almost always the kids are hungry/thirsty.

I just say to the loudest mouth, no problem, I'll call the Police on the Sat phone and they will contact your community, someone will come out to you ~ okay!

Not often do they reply with a thank you or 'okay that will be good'

By all means be polite but don't be a mug either.

Safe travels : Joe Fury

Personally I would be much more worried walking the streets on Northbridge in Perth (and there are almost certainly similar places in other cities) than driving a remote outback road.

By all means be cautious. That's all.

cheers

We came across a car on the Tanami last year, just stopped on the road, a couple of Aboriginal men standing outside the car. One rim didn't even have a tyre on it, all they asked for was some water? One of the other members of our party gave them a couple of litres of water and they seemed happy enough.

It's a common story. The last time I stopped for someone, he asked for petrol, I looked at his car and it was jacked up on chocks without wheels so I sort of smelled a rat there. Then he asked for water for the kids which I gave him then left. You can't have that many people running out of fuel that often, there's something missing in the logic of it. It was a tragedy in the making this week in WA, when a truck plowed into the car.

Scenario is very common. Last year we helped a family out when they ran out of fuel near Warakurna. The manager at the roadhouse told us this happens every other day

Better safe than sorry.

I think that sometimes, we all get complacent traveling remote areas at some stage, because nothing nasty really happens out there very often. After a while, it all becomes a bit routine & we just react the way we did the previous 20 times it happened - this can be a fatal mistake. Kudos to you for picking up on the situation & not letting your guard down.

This is my "I dodged at bullet" story; 3 years ago, my wife & I left Mataranka, heading towards Roper Bar on that single lane bitumen road. The only other vehicle we saw for the 1st 100km or so, was a guy on a pushbike, that we overtook. Then, I saw a Ute coming the other way & I did what I always do on those single lane bitumen roads, I pulled completely off the road & stopped, allowing the oncoming driver to pass on the bitumen, without having both of us putting one wheel off the road & showering both of us with stones.

Only, this time, 'ol mate in the Ute saw us & pulled up across our front. I couldn't have driven out of there if I wanted to! We were towing a camper, so any reversing manoeuvre was not looking good either.

We had our respective windows wound down & he started a conversation about why we were out there. I don't flap easily & have been going bush for over 40 years, but this guy spooked me. It suddenly dawned on me that if he had a gun, I wouldn't be able to a) see it until it was too late & b) I had buckley's chance to do anything to defend us against it.

I still feel to this day that had my wife been younger, we would have been in serious trouble. But after a few extremely tense minutes, he pulled out of our way & let us on our way.

Up till then, I had no doubt that Murdoch was guilty. Now I'm not so sure.

This guy was a big guy, driving a white Landcruiser Ute, with a canopy & he scared the daylights out of me!

Just to add to some of the scenarios, we were travelling the GCR a couple of years ago, car side of the road, 2 local? guys, we stop nearby and they need petrol. We only had diesel so no help on that score and said they’ll wait, someone will come along. Within 20 minutes we stop for fuel and they pull in to the roadhouse, as far as we know no other cars in either direction. Did they just won’t so free fuel?!

We have been stopped twice.

Once when on the Eyre Highway in the Yalata area. A car was stopped roadside, with family sitting in the shade of a tree. A young man came out onto the road and hailed us. Story was they were nearly home when they ran out of petrol (Yalata Roadhouse nearby was still open then). We had a jerrycan of ULP in a rack on the caravan drawbar, so offered them a little. The young man rapidly emptied the whole 20 litre into the car. A larger donation that we intended. They only needed to do that a few time each day to keep their tank full.

Another time, on the Great Central Road, we were some not far west of the turnoff to Cosmo Newbery. There was a large gathering in Laverton that weekend and there was a lot of vehicles coming from the east. We met a man walking. He said they had run out of diesel. We told him we did not carry spare diesel. I asked twice if we could inform anyone in Laverton of his plight and he refused each time, saying he would walk back to the community. He asked if he could have some water, so I gave him a cool drink bottle of cold water. He said his car was a few kilometres along the road, and his nephew was with the children. I asked if they needed water and he said no thank you. I was not concerned about leaving the car stranded due to the amount of traffic coming through to this event. His manner was very gentile and I did not feel at all uncomfortable.

Some years back on the GCR we came across a Ford Falcon stopped in the middle of the road. On slowing there was a man waving us down so I stopped a little way from is vehicle.
He asked if I had a 14" tyre, as he had a tube and wheel but no tyre. On offering to send assistance from the next roadhouse he gave me his name and address (in Cosmo Newbury) and I was about to depart when I heard a voice from across the paddock yelling that he had found one, but needed another jack to get it off a wreck in the paddock.
I then assisted these 2 gents of extremely dark skin colour to change this tyre from its 4 stud wheel onto his 5 stud wheel.
Whilst I was engaged in this I noticed that there were also 3 females in the vehicle, one of approx. 16 years, one apparently her mother and the third apparently the Grandmother, the girl asked if we had some water (they had a 2 litre empty bottle between all of them) so we obliged, and she also asked if we had any fruit as her grandmother was diabetic and also on Dialysis, they were travelling from Warburton back to Cosmo Newbury when the left rear tyre let go and they had continued on until the rim bent back onto the brake calliper stopping any further motion.
On asking the girl what would have happened if we did not stop her reply was that she was about to start walking to Cosmo to get help, a distance nearing 100km.
We were thanked for our assistance and invited into their community should we be passing that way again.

On another occasion we were about 80km from Halls Creek when we were flagged down by a single man again of very dark skin, He had the bonnet raised of the Falcon that he was with so I stopped a little way up the road so I could see everything around me. He asked I we had any water as his car was boiling, I cautiously got some water and went back to his car to see if further assistance was required. At this time I noticed that there was a second man in the vehicle (and he did not show any intention of getting out) As the top tank of the radiator had parted company I offered to arrange for a tow truck to come out from the nearest available place, He mentioned that they had been to a funeral in Kununurra. I took some details and off we went. I passed these details on to the Road Service at Halls Creek. A few hours later I saw this vehicle arrive on the tilt tray.

All my interaction with apparently stranded motorists in outback Australia have so far been pleasant, however I am always cautious.

Regards
Athol

For every outback "suspect car/driver" there would be a 100 in the cities and suburbs. Car jackings are common place now and car theft a daily routine. Just be cautious but not scared...

Pretty standard stuff west of the Stuart Highway.

It first happened to me on the Gunbarrel Highway in 1997, last happened on the Talawana Track about 18 months ago.

You get used to it.

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I have "helped-out" several times but have also been hassled more times, the last being two days ago at Mount Isa for "Taxi money to get food (McDonalds) home to the kids"..

In most cases it has been a "try-out" without menace but I do exercise caution and practice resolve without aggression.

I have been told more than once by remote servos that the locals never fill their fuel tanks even when they know they will need more for the trip and rely on others of any skin colour to help out as needed. It is an historic trait of the Aboriginal people to share their food and assets and sometimes causes problems if one family member comes home with earned money.

From the personal events posted above it appears that many people, not just locals, are very Ill prepared for outback travel. I guess you have to ask, if they don't care about their own safety and safety of their family, why should a well prepared holiday maker enjoying their day worry either. Not having a spare wheel, fuel anddrinking water is neglect if other people are in the vehicle. Michael

Robin : IMO you need to to be Cautious for your own safety , while i have stopped in the past for people i'll only do that now if i'm 110 % sure its safe
and like others have a few tails to tell . so just drive on .....
Be careful & have some insurance !!

Better to be a bit cautious in a situation like that Robin, rather than indifferent to an unknown scenario. Many of the "locals" are long term welfare recipients, so no doubt are keen to supplement their handouts with some free fuel, or a monetary windfall.

During our WA trip, we camped in a road base quarry close to the GCR, not far from the Parallel Road No.2 Junction.



About 9.30pm, we were all in our beds except one bloke who was "watering the horse". A vehicle approached, sporting plenty of auxiliary lighting, turned into the quarry and drove up to our camp. Some Aboriginal ladies alighted and the first thing they said, after "hello", was: " just us girls, no men here!" I thought this rather strange, but they must have had some experience with their menfolk misbehaving, and wanted to allay any fears we might have had?

The 3 girls were from Kalgoorlie and were heading to Warburton for a funeral. They needed some water as their sedan was overheating, and had been for an hour or more. Never heard if they got to their destination?

Bob

Meanwhile, at Epping train station in Sydney’s north, our suburb, a person was stabbed in the neck as the train approached the station last night – apparently unprovoked…(according to the Tellie this morning).

But I’ll still catch the train today…

I’ve stopped numerous times in the outback to check on and/or help people of all race, creed and colour and my experience as always been pleasant.

For sure, I always have a good look around as I pull up, but I’ve never had a situation where I wasn’t inclined to stop.

And I think there is a good reason for that, most people are decent people!

So I’ll continue to take the chance to help others in need based on that theory as it might be me one day, besides, I think it is the right thing to do anyway...

But the sentiment of the post isn't lost on me and everyone needs to put their own filter on any situation they are confronted with, whether that is in Martin Place Sydney, or a remote outback track.

Good luck out there and focus on the positives.

Cheers, Baz – The Landy

After reading all this, I'm baffled how and why so many traveling parties run out of fuel while driving in the outback ?! Or travel without other critical supplies (namely, water) ?!

With regard to the fuel in particular, which theory is correct? Mooching free fuel for a grog run (David)? Or traditional sharing mindset (Allan)? Maybe both occur to some extent.

Perhaps servos that have fuel for tourists, but not locals, is also a factor? This was mentioned in replies above. It's difficult to fuel up for a trip if the servo won't serve you.

Having read the original post and the replies I am glad to see that most people would still stop to offer assistance to anyone stopped beside an Outback road who appears to be in trouble. It is sad to think that some would drive right past without any attempt to check the need for assistance. You may feel a bit cynical about some cases but you never know how serious and real a problem may be if you don't stop. After all, one day it might be you stopped there even if you do consider yourself to be brilliantly prepared for every eventuality! One time when we were stuck and changing a wheel in a very isolated area we were very grateful that another driver stopped to check that we were all right. We were all right but someone did stop to check.
By all means take sensible care but don't let us lose the great Outback tradition of always offering what help we can! Lynne

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OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN............

Just today on the Arnhem Central Highway we stopped for a snack. A car passed us then turned around and came back. A white-whiskered black face peered out and asked "You alright mate?" I responded that we were OK and thanked them for stopping and asking.
It made my day.

It is wise to exercise some caution around people you don't know (we all learned about "stranger danger" as kids). Your account reminds me of a couple of blokes on the road from Finke to Alice Springs who waved me down, said they'd broken down, were walking for help and asked I could give them some for water. I was a little uneasy as that meant getting out of the car to get it for them. They were polite and grateful, though I never did see their broken-down car along the road. I still ponder to this day that I was not cautious enough.

However, I might be imagining something, but it seems you might be suggesting that you assume that the people who broke into the store at Warburton were the same people you encountered on the road "some hours" drive away? I'm not sure it's entirely fair to assume that.