There are some fantastic arguments put forward here and all have there merits.

Emotional comments need to be left out, Test and Tag every 3 months is scare mongering in my opinion.

The 2wd comment is deflecting the focus, there is little chance of educating a 2WD driver about 4WD issues.

To me common sense does exist, if your not sure about something, slow down or stop and think through what is about to happen.
That way you can eliminate risks to people and vehicles, or at least minimise it.

In saying that nothing beats being shown the correct way to do something then practicing the skills learnt.

In our club you can not drive on a club trip unless you have attended a training day, and you have produced your recovery kit for"scrutineering" to be sure it meets safety standards.

You must have front and rear recovery points.

Boats going off shore (in NSW) have a licence and minimum safety kit that is policed, maybe 4WD vehicles in the bush should have the same, the minimum kit part.

I have no idea how to police it, coppers grab unlicenced bikes around here occasionally but only close to town. Having them pull us up for a safety check is opening a can of worms that I dont want to see.

Being a club member or attending a training course before heading into the bush is possibly a start in the right direction for safety.

We suffer from so many rules and regulations in Australia, we dont need more surely. But if we dont do something it will taken out of our hands and decided by a pocket full of pens with no idea.

Macca