Four-Wheel Danger Experts Say Four-Wheel-Drive Rigs Can Give Motorists False Sense Of Security

They’re big, powerful rigs that can rip through drifts of deep snow and power through steep and muddy back roads.

A four-wheel-drive vehicle can make a driver feel down right invincible.

And that’s exactly why they’re so dangerous.

“Many people who have four-wheel-drives have been lulled into a false sense of security,” said Cpl. Brian Kitchen of the Idaho State Police.

“They think they can stop on a dime,” said Rusty Clark, a sales manager at Ponderosa Motors in Coeur d’Alene. “They think they are going to be able to drive on anything.”

In fact, four-wheel-drives handle no better on icy roads than a regular vehicle, police and automobile experts say. And some believe they may even handle worse.

Thursday’s fatal accident on state Highway 41 is a good example of how four-wheel-drive vehicles are no safer than two-wheel rigs, officials say.

Michael R. Opland’s truck was in four-wheel drive when he tried to pass a long line of cars on the ice and snow-covered Idaho state highway. He lost control of his rig and rammed into a woman driving the opposite direction, according to an ISP report. Darlene King, 39, died instantly.

“Don’t think for a minute that because you have a four-wheel-drive that you are any less apt to have an accident than anyone else,” Kitchen said.

Clark said that often people who buy four-wheel-drives from his car lot believe they will have more control over the rig while driving fast and stopping.

A four-wheel-drive does provide better traction to help drivers get going and pull them through tough terrain. But it does not stop a vehicle any quicker or make it handle any better in icy conditions than any other vehicle, Clark said.

Kitchen suggests drivers take their rigs out of four-wheel drive when traveling on icy roads.

“If you’re on solid ice I believe you are less safe in four-wheel drive than if you are in two-wheel drive,” he said.

He believes a four-wheel-drive may be harder to control once it starts sliding because there are four powered wheels - instead of two - spinning out of control.

And “in some cases they may behave worse because the center of gravity is up higher,” said Cpl. Phil Brown. Four-wheel drive is often used in cars that sit high off the ground, causing them to tip over easier than other vehicles, he said.

, DataTimes