What common mistakes are made with off highway vehicles?

If you have an off highway vehicle, such as an ATV, snowmobile, or three wheeler, you have probably had your share of accidents. Our OHV training expert, Bill Uhl, who has more than 48 years teaching experience, says common mistakes can be avoided if you discipline yourself.

"There are a couple of different arenas across the board. I would say being overconfident in what your ability is, not really knowing your ability, is number one. The second is people not knowing their piece of equipment. When you get into riding in areas that you're not familiar with and you convince yourself you know something that you don't, then, there is an opportunity to misread a map or something else," Uhl says.

Misreading maps or taking the wrong path can be avoided by traveling with people. However, Uhl says, study the route you're taking. Don't disregard it just because someone else knows the way.

"The problem with that is when you don't know where you're going, if something was to happen to that one person in the whole group that knows where you are and where you're going, then everybody becomes in someway lost. That has happened more than once. You need to take personal responsibility for your own actions when you're riding off road motor vehicles. You need to know what you can do and what the machine is capable of doing," Uhl says.

Another mistake riders make is not respecting Mother Nature. Uhl says if you are going to develop a respect for your machine, you have to have respect for the earth first.

"If you meet horses or lamas on the trail, shut your bike off. Pull over to the side. I have had people say, 'man, keep that thing running; this horse knows what a motorcycle is. Don't shut that thing off.' I don't think that way though. If I see a horse, if I am carrying a backpack on my motorcycle or ATV, I have to take my backpack off; I take my helmet off. If I have bright clothes on, I take that off and start talking to the horse, so the horse understands I am just a person. I have had horses that wouldn't go by my motorcycle, even reeling against the hillside to stay out of my way. I once had to turn around in an 18 mile trail before the horse would go by," Uhl says.

Some traits every beginner will have driving OHV's is lack of patience and too much confidence. Uhl says if you can discipline yourself into learning your machine right, you can get prevent those setbacks. That combined with respecting nature will help you make good moves out on the field wherever you are.