According to the news from yesterday a Gladiator rolled off a cliff on Ouray County Rd 361, CO and went down 240ft. The guide and 2 tourists were killed. Not sure why this happened but most likely complacency or distraction got the better of the driver. One word of advice to others - if one has to look at the view, adjust the seat, radio or similar activity then the advice is to STOP / PARK, do whatever then continue. Sometimes a wheel just over the edge and it grabs and pulls you sideways. Then it is all over. Never take alcohol up to these places and ensure the rig is up for it such as this Gladiator would have been. The Sherrif of that San Miguel County says for inexperienced to stay away from thee trails but cannot enforce. Perhaps it is time for local guides and 4x4 clubs to get involved to prevent inexperienced juniors from going by themselves until they get some time in.
Sad all around and condolences to family and friends.

 

Sad news. That trail in particular aggravates me a bit since there are a lot of inexperienced rental drivers that don't know how to handle oncoming traffic passing situations well. Totally agree with the idea of stopping to take in the views and get pics, and paying attention to the trail when you are in control of the vehicle. It simply doesn't take much to go awry.

 

I think some of those passes are one way to increase safety. But perhaps not all. They called the driver a Guide so he should havebeen experienced. Now the lawyers come out of the woodwork.

 

This is the link to the accident. Just shows the Gladiator aftermath at around 10:48. Really squashed - people inside never had a chance.

 

Wow that is very sad and unfortunate. I'm sure big lawsuits are coming due to the negligence.

 

It is very sad. Since he was a guide it is also surprising. I wonder if with the expected lawsuits we will find out more about what the jeep computer has to add.

 

Good Lord!
I hauled ATVs from Arkansas and spent a week around Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride right at this time! We went through Imogene on Sep 13th. 1st time ever on trails like these, but we took it slow, and watched where everyone else placed their lines, and did fine.
But there's just no margin for error. None of us had ever even SEEN trails like these, being from the Ozarks, and we all had pucker-moments.
I hate it for their families, and I hate the energy and time that's going to be spent on finger-pointing now. All from 1 moment of inattention or 1 bad judgement call.
Does anyone know if these places renting Rubis for $300/day provide any training, or do they just make sure you have a valid driver's license and proof of insurance and hand you the keys?

 

Pretty much the latter. They show you the basics like how to disconnect and use the lockers. It's the same way in Moab. I had a friend rent something when we were out there so we had 2 vehicles for the day. It was pretty much a "have fun....bring it back with a full tank of gas and 25psi in the tires". Those places do prohibit the rentals from going on a couple trails and/or obstacles. That still leaves the door open for people with zero experience to go out there and use judgement on what they do or do not attempt in a landscape they are not at all familiar with.

 

I agree with you PoppaA - but I heard the driver was a guide with lots of experience especially on these trails and apparently where it happened was actually pretty straight forward driving just on a narrow road. He was probably distracted somehow - not really any other explanation. Maybe a witness report or similar will come out or the law doing an accident reconstruction. But others are right - lawyers will come out of the woodwork.

 

Just a pic off the internet after browsing the post subject heading. This is Engineers Pass but that rollbar does not instill confidence in me. This driver's head was in the line of sight for rocks to cave it in. But the rest of the Jeep looked like it fared well.