You would think that before hitting the soft sand on a beach a driver would have some basic knowledge...but no, many just have no idea. Then of course as you say they wander over after they have buried their pride and joy to the floor pan and want some one to get them out...no snatch strap, tyres still at highway pressures, and often no where to hook a strap onto anyway.
I have even seen blokes wrap ropes around diff housings and spring hangers trying to get out of a bog.
When heading across to Fraser Island at Inskip point, you'll always see one or two 4wd's bogged 50 metres after the bitumen stops as they try to head over to the ferry. Usually they are loaded to the gunwhales and in the excitement they have hit the soft sand with tyres at highway pressures. Same at Bribie, the tracks are all pretty good but you will always find some one bellied out on an access track to the beach.
And you are right, you don't need a 4wd much of the time...my brother at one stage had an old HQ wagon with a set of fat tyres on it, LSD in the back and he had lifted the thing a couple of inches. He used that to go to his shack at Lancelin north of Perth for a while and never got bogged on the sand tracks. If it was a bit soft he'd hit it with a bit of speed, but running around 18psi all round it worked a treat. That was back in the 80's, I don't think those shacks are there anymore are they?
Common sense is the key, you can have the smartest blingiest 4wd with all the gizmo's you can afford and still get bogged...
