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"The way it's described it sounds like it's a "Straight down vertical drop" on the other side of the berm."
"if someone launches over a berm with any kind of speed of course they'll clear the "grade" holding up the dirt"
This is how I have interpreting it since I started reading the thread(s). So, the kid wasn't railing the berm, and it broke loose? He wasn't rubbed off by another racer? He pretty much just whiskey throttled straight through the berm and cleared the grade on the other side? Feel bad for the boy and is injuries but it seems like a lot of blame is being thrown around to everyone but the racer.
So I guess anyone wearing EKS Brand goggles, who gets dirt in their eye, should expect Rich to pay them?
depends on whether a former pro has warned them that some dirt can get in.
There's no media in this sport....It's one big feel-good infomercial.
The guy wanted a big payday and he got it, then the press ran cover for him.
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One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread or the other one is where is the liability of the kid? He's the one on the track and supposed to be in control of his dirt bike. If he whiskey throttled off a berm due to his lack of fitness or skill how is that LACR's fault?
Exactly right! Moto journalists are all just one big circle jerk, they won't report on anything that upsets the apple cart b/c if they do they will lose their privileges to teams/riders.
It's evident that this was not a frivolous claim as some are saying. There would be no settlement if there weren't gross negligence; clearly, the other party admitted fault. It's as simple as that. So many people are quick to judge the situation because of a social stigma, but I also bet that most of the people saying negative things would have done the same thing if their kid had been involved. I'm not one for suing, but I also disagree with the cavalier attitudes that track operators can sometimes have about their tracks. It blows me away how the magnitude of the injuries and the feature in question are minimized to create a poor LACR story. Last time I checked, LACR is still open, and since I've ridden there, the feature, meaning the cliff on the backside of the berm, is gone. I think that says a lot.
That’s a fair point. According to racer X his bday is 8/2/98 which means he turned 18 8/2/2016 and was 18 at the time of incident. Wasn’t there a claim that dad signed waiver for son?
Okay, so unless someone else confirms otherwise, that IS the berm where the incident happened when the rider whiskey throttled off the top of it. With that said, I think most of us wish the law worked like this:
Judge Q&A:
1. Is this the berm where it happened? Yes
2. Did the incident happen the first time you passed through this berm? No
3. About how many times did you pass through this berm before the incident? About 50 times
4. Did the track workers or track equipment cause you to whiskey throttle off the berm? No
5. So are you trying to sue for the one failed attempt, as a result of your own mistake, after making 49 successful passes? Yes
Denied. Case closed. Next.
Unfortunately we ALL pay the price for these lawsuits in our litigious society in the form of higher insurance rates and less tracks/areas to ride. Riding areas get shut down because of what happened here. People complain about high track fees, well the track owners have very expensive insurance bills as a result of this.
When you sign a waiver, you SHOULD BE signing your life away, UNLESS there is legitimate negligence like a tractor entering the track in front of you. Making your own mistake and crashing should be on you, not the track owners.
This is a very slippery slope because any obstacle on any track can result in the same outcome. You don't need a huge drop off to whiskey throttle and injure or kill yourself:
Like the one where Jett is Concussed but it is being hidden....Can you imagine what MX media that would touch that one?
I live close to their track and I hear all kinds of rumors...who knows
Tell me more about how little you know about the court system and lawsuits 😂😂
That's not the AMA doing the insurance. It's a 3rd party giving a sweetheart deal in insurance due to the AMA risk management policies, rules and regulations, and of course, being the only insurance Co the AMA endorses
Are you an expert?
Wrong Taylor kid. That's Richard, not Zach.
From the sound of it there was no big pay day here. Both parties at fault IMHO. One just had more liability in it.
The fact you think a lawsuit is not frivolous because there was a settlement proves YOU definitely are not.
That track was awesome then. Great pic. The back side was fun.
That Rich raced an AC for him?
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Yep just as how I know LOTS of guys who will not Ride LACR when it’s Windy. Because the Wind makes dang near every jump there more dangerous. The track would never change for Windy conditions. So If we see something unsafe or dangerous on any track we should just not ride and request a refund.
There should be a show covering this later in the week.
The Wednesday night practices were great as well.
Wrong son, it's the younger son. That's Richard you looked up, Zachary was the one injured and this conversation is around.
all these comments hammering the moto-"Media" make my black heart smile.
I was never able to make it to them, but I always wanted to.
Ah okay my bad. So in that case, this is another bit of misinformation from the YouTube video… wasn’t there a claim that Dad signed waiver for kid and this somehow opened a loophole? I
I honestly believe a lot of folks are sick of the industry bro show.
They cover each other and talk down to their audience/customers. It's getting really fucking lame.
Also, NONE of the industry big shots do anything to help at a grass roots level. Fuck tracks and fuck anyone not in their circle, apparently. Hell, they can't even organize funding for Des Nations. Just make excuses and run cover...
Edit: There's really A LOT of things going against the sport at a grass roots level. This shit just makes me angry.
Exactly, I’d be willing to bet RT had ridden that track plenty with that berm there.
ML and all locals knew of it and were aware of its sketchiness.
No on several points.
Settlement almost certainly did not contain admission of guilt or negligence or any of it. They rarely do. Even if you enter into these things based on principle you quickly realize it's just a financial calculation to everyone else and that really becomes all its about. If the plaintiffs cared about making a point you have the defendant put out a statement or apology. If you don't really care about that you take the money and everyone signs an NDA and moves on.
The fact that it settled means little about the merits of the claim. Just like everyone wanted this to be insurance calling the shots on the plaintiffs side, these decisions are mostly up to the insurance companies on the defense side as well. If it's cheaper to settle than to do to court and win the case, insurance will settle. You balance cost of going to trial and the slim but possible chance that a jury goes off the rails and gives huge payday, and if they will take a number you are happy with, you settle.
I am 99.9% not to ever sue a track. I've suffered major injuries at tracks countless times through the years and have had several rides in an ambulance from the track to the hospital for emergency surgery. Lost months of income from healing before I could work again. Plus I am the sole breadwinner in my family.
But there are things that can be negligent. I mean just a month or so ago, a guy posted video of a track worker going out and working the track on a skidsteer DURING a race!! I think it was maybe in Tennessee. Either way, I'm not going to completely throw Taylor under the bus for his decision. There's that .01%
Hopefully his son gets a near normal life, at this point, that's what matters
Funny im reading all of this and there is a exksbrand ad on top of the page...If I was a track owner and found out someone had sued another track for any reason I would kindly inform them they are not welcome to much liability
Post a reply to: Statement from Rich Taylor (LACR Lawsuit)