Statement from Rich Taylor (LACR Lawsuit)

Rick Ryan>Kooksey

Expert witness and Daytona winner

Lots of big chested folks in here.  Never say never as I’m sure shit changes a lot when you are there with your son/daughter busted to a million pieces…

Do you know how quick you have to pull the trigger to have an injury in 2017 and lawsuit in 2018?

It's a motocross race. There are inherent dangers, tracks are dangerous, it's an implied risk. Would be different if it was gross negligence, such as a piece of equipment on the track.
Like a kid tearing an ACL at a High School basketball game and the parents filing a lawsuit against the school because the gym floor was too slick. That's what this is.

I guess the only good outcome from all of this is that LACR is still open. 

So it was an ama event so I guess that means there was an ama rep there? Rider meetings etc. Noone said anything there?

" in sweden " we have swemo and the rep from there always check track and decides if safe or not

The witness talked too a guy next too a machine yeah probably some volunteer that day, if he was so concerd why didnt he talked to race promoters and ama?

How about RedBull Rampage?  Talk about potentially falling off a cliff.  

It gets a little cloudy when you start thinking about precedences.  Could someone go to the Redbull Rampage staff before the contest and claim all these drops are dangerous?  And then, families of any rider can sue if one of them takes a digger? 

Many things are dangerous at a moto track including big jumps, but I guess the track owners are supposed to make it as safe as possible without unnecessary or hidden obstacles.  Maybe from a legal standpoint, the track staff would have had to point out the dangerous obstacle to all the riders before they raced, which would have then given riders the decision to take that risk or not, and take more liability off the track owners?   

BTW, does anyone have any photos of this drop off?

I don't like it.

It has always been the rider's responsibility to evaluate all risks. Track walks seem to have become a thing of the past and would have gone a long way in this situation. 

We rightly have a culture of flaming track-suers in this sport - because it quickly ceases to function when they are allowed to profligate. Lawyers kill dirt bikes, period.

Rich Taylor has a lot of fans, myself included, but he is maxing out every ounce of industry cool-guy points here to avoid the kind reputational harm we would heap on any random person in this same situation. 

There had to be a better solution here. 

Isle of Mann? Hope the legal culture there isn't what it is here. It'll be over as soon as someone decides it should be if so. 

Rampage is completely different.  The riders build their own lines for a week leading up to the event.  

In this case, I am not sure what side to take, but a two story drop on the backside of a berm is not responsible and outside the "inherent risk" of racing.

Dear Rich Taylor,

Let’s get one thing clear….you are no longer part of my motocross family. 

If you sued on behalf of your son’s interests, maybe it’s reasonable to take responsibility for his interests when entering a motocross race.

Sincerely, 

Tristan Callahan

Ps. MainEventMoto pinned HRC Jordon Troxell’s comment on the video of the Bar X Suzuki Tyler incident. He clarifies about people walking trackside as well as the flagger. Then he goes on to blame the rider for not knowing/walking the track. It appears that the industry has a general expectation that is put on the riders (or their parents). 
 

Pps. The main moto media players deserve to feel the brunt of this as well. I’ll be giving my attention to all the “privateer” media who aren’t in the club. 

Anybody looking for a completely safe environment should stay miles away from any motocross track. 

Depending on who you ask, almost any obstacle or nearby feature could be a complete death trap if hit by an out of control rider. This is the nature of being out of control- bad things can happen. 

This is some shady shit. You can see almost the entire track from the parking lot and if it was “unsafe” Rich should have pulled the plug as the consenting adult for the minor. 
 

Pretty shitty Rich. 

You do know that Red Bull Rampage Riders make their own jumps and their own ride lines, not a track builder right?  Apples and Oranges.

Is this statement supposed to be justification?  Fck you RT!

Cant help but laugh reading all this with a giant x brand banner at the top of the page. Typical Insiders protecting insiders. Regular folk get the no information, pay full price please treatment. Its a money grab period.

I'm incredibly sorry to hear how bad the young man's injuries were and complications are. It's super unfortunate and I hope he can keep improving.

Given the above I'm sorry to ask but... What was the track supposed to do if there was that much of a drop? It sounds like it must be a natural terrain situation or something way beyond filling in?

I'm still on the "you walk the track, then you either race or you don't" opinion I'm afraid. Red Bull Rampage is a good example. Imagine rolling off and then down a mountain.

Yeah the riders make their own jumps. But do they sue Red Bull for putting it on? Sue the state for having a mountain? If a tube pops or a chain snaps, do they sue the manufacturer?

Hitting some dipshit in a dozer on a live track or a total lack of flagging or something, I could see needing some careful consideration on calling people out, but the track is what it is. That's a slippery slope.

So, no pics of this drop after all this time? Kind of hard for anyone to fully assess the situation that day with actually being there that day. Just the ugly list of injuries alone indicate it must have been a huge one. And depending on the terrain, I could see it being very possible to miss it on a track walk if you did just that - walked just the track. Unless you walk all the way around the very outside of all of it so you could see what is on the outside of all the high berms. Does everyone do that on a track walk?

I still don't see anything here that proves the Taylor's are behind this.

                                              -Don M 

Losing tracks v bodily harm. Both suck. 

I NEVER like to hear about tracks being sued, but I also can’t begin to understand the anger I would have if my kid had injuries like that, when I thought the track conditions played a role, especially if I heard after the fact that the track operators had multiple knowledgeable people tell them something was unnecessarily dangerous.

I still don’t like it, and never will. BUT I also completely understand.

and Cooksey….you might not agree, and you don’t have to. But to go full “you are a coward” “piece of shit”….blah blah blah, accuse him of cheating, accuse him of telling flaggers that his kid is fine with 30 broken bones, tell 10s of thousands of followers to boycott the man’s company etc. all whilst knowing full well that RT can not come on to your show, and knowing that it was his kids health that was severely impacted, surely even if you strongly disagree, you can understand why a father of an injured kid might feel enough anger to do something that we typically frown upon. Your tirades, unprofessional rants and general lack of decency is pathetic and I dare say, says a lot about your character. 
Pull your head in. 

Like said you never know until you are in the situation. Would I or my family sue a track? I would like to think not but you never know. One thing sets this apart from most, Rich had options that most nobodies don’t. With his connections he could’ve held ride days to raise funds. He could’ve done some promotions with the goggle brand. I bet a go fund with his name behind would’ve raised funds of at least 50-75k. Was this lawsuit to pay for bills that piled up or to set his family up for the future? An original moto drive / vital user sued a track. He was black listed and called “track suing scum” from the day it was found out. Just seems RT is getting a pass when others have not.

Someone posted a link from the actual race the accident occurred in. It’s in the other thread. 
 

Before that, I went on YouTube and found an older video of LACR. It wasn’t hard to see where. Anyone with any sense on a bike would know that it’s not gonna be good to whiskey off that berm. Can’t say that’s all that unique to this specific track to be honest. I have had many situations where my brain goes “if things go sideways…”.
 

I then ride accordingly. 

So this was an AMA sanctioned event? We have been paying into the AMA seems like forever - I have never heard of the AMA paying for really anything....maybe a poker run for baggers. What good is the AMA for the common man? why wasn't the AMA involved in this suit? Where are the AMA representatives from this race? Why does the promoter have full responsibility? Sad deal the kid was hurt and we sign away our rights to sue once we sign a waiver but the silence from the AMA (who takes our money and without hesitation) is maddening. I think the AMA has taken in plenty of funds and again I have never heard of the AMA paying for hospital bills or helicopter rides.

Tracks getting sued, I’m out. YouTubers getting sued, yes please. 

If the track was too dangerous for them, they didn’t need to enter the race.  There are doubles and triples on tracks that I think are too dangerous.  I don’t jump them.  If there are trees (or a hill) on the back side of a berm and I want to be sure I don’t go over it, I take the inside line.  Just like everything else in life, threats are lurking everywhere.  Part of winning is knowing when the risk outweighs the reward.  Glad to hear that the Taylors could cash in on a bad choice.

I literally just ordered $250 worth of new Scott goggles so I can purge my goggle case of EKS brand (which is all I wore previously).

Rode a new track on Saturday out in the woods of Rhode Island. Right off the landing of a table I noticed a tree, that if you overjumped the table it could send you off the track right at the tree. It was a fun jump but I made a mental note, big tree right there. Tree should probably be dropped. I was free to load my bike up and leave if I wanted

Unless things have changed since I left the golden state, none of the motocross series in Southern California are AMA sanctioned.