Arizona cycle park affected by insurance

I know we have some folks here who have done road racing and/or still do…how’s this working on that side? I’m guessing there are less smaller injuries, but the big ones have a much higher likelihood of death or serious injury. Is it the fact that road racing venues and enthusiasts tend to have deeper pockets, or ? Or are those facilities facing similar issues?

Quick search around $200+/-

Paid expert witness, a prostitute no less guilty than Rich Taylor in my eyes

It’s sad people 1) can’t be respectful and do what the track requires to stay open and 2) decide to sue tracks when we all know motocross is dangerous. 

hoping they can get insurance and my local track can stay open.

I guess those who want to ride a track will need to find their local private track and hope to be invited by the owner.

I have room for a few more serious rider/racers at my track of course it's a long drive but if you are serious that should be no problem.

Theres always the new moto video game coming soon so just do your riding on your TV and stay at home like our owners so desprately want us to.

More than you would think. One lawsuit in Colo when a water trucked backed over and killed a kid who decided to ride up to the back and lean on the water truck when in was in the pits and then the truck backed over him. Another in Oklahoma where two kids on minis hit each other pit racing and both are suing. Sorry ass state of affairs for any track trying to stay open and then you add the scumbags like Rich Taylor and the industry still doing business with him even though he and others like him are putting the industry out of business. Then guys like Rich Cain and Rick Ryan and the list goes on and on. 

Man I would hate to see ACP have to shut down, or any track for that matter. We've lost so many tracks in Arizona, it's crazy. 

Tracks need to move sovereign lands..aka reservations. 

No money in running a race track, casino's are where the money is. 

Band doesn't have to run anything. Provide the land, get the lease cut. 

Kind of like when they were going to have the MXDN at the NEW Indian reservation track. 🤬 

Operator still can be sued in state court unless also a sovereign tribal member.  

Did I read that correctly, there’s only one insurance company for tracks to go through? What’s the ama doing, anything at all?

Does blackrock own these insurance companies?

I got my AMA registration back in 2004. During my time in moto, I never saw anything positive coming from the organization, but I'm sure I was not aware of many things that were going on behind the scenes.

In the non-riding life that I live now, I own and operate a swimming team for youth through USA Swimming. They provide the liability insurance for any member team for all practices and competitions. I think our annual team registration dues are like $400, and each swimmer pays $100. USA Swimming is basically a clown show, but they make the AMA look negligent with protecting the sport of motorcycle racing.

The AMA needs to step up and provide track owners with some form of liability insurance. I understand the two sports are fairly different, but if the AMA won't or can't do something to help, I struggle to see a reason for their existence.

We have seen the enemy, and it is us.

I frequently ask people what the AMA has done to help keep Motocross racing alive in the last 20 years.  90% of them can't come up with anything, the rest talk about the work they did on the lead laws in 2009.  The only thing they can come up with was 15 years ago....

I feel like if the insurance companies are at least attempting to spy and raise or lower rates based on what they find at least the operators have some small control. It’s frustrating trying to get house insurance in fire areas and getting denied based on your zip code no matter what you do to protect your house. 

Ironically, a different AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics, ie model aircraft) also provides insurance for members and clubs.

About the only thing the motorcycle AMA has done besides collecting dues is arguing for loud pipes and the right to not protect your cranium while riding…

Racetracks seem to be doing better. They charge higher fees, outsource the majority of the events (different organizations will rent the track from the owner and provide their own insurance) and they also have actual income sources. The average track day is $300-400 per person so there’s a bigger buffer there.

They also cater to a grown up clientele which might also help

Use to be six good RR tracks in Colorado, now there are two and both are terrible. The MRA road racing around here is on life support. Ponca city MX track is now closed and the City locked out the AMBUCs and no trespassing signs are up because of past lawsuits and pending lawsuits. Its a shame because I started riding there back in 1971 but I seriously doubt it will re open.  

Not road racing but on the stock car side the amount of providers for a Motorsports venue have drastically shrunk in the last handful of years. Many have updated safety requirements for the insured property that are just too costly for some track owners to take on and still hope to turn a profit. A similar thing happened with state legislature in Arkansas for motor racing facilities that was amended in the 90s IIRC, it forced a decent percentage of the active tracks in the state to close their doors soon after. 

Well if there are no public tracks I guess Feld can just turn everyone into characters in a monster truck type production.  No need for OEMs  Team Mulisha vs the Lumberjack again

I've got to say, motocross is one of the few motorsports I do where under 18's get to participate. I've got a tarmac track car and bike and its exceptionally rare to have someone young on the track, but it is possible through licensing etc.

Unfortunately, for motocross to continue I feel under 18's will get shut out. Most kids DO NOT have the maturity to be involved in motorsports in a free practice context. On race day sure, but open practice can be chaos.

Not sure where that leaves the youngsters? BMX until your 18?

I don’t think NA moto is sustainable without the whole amateur kid scene.  Around here in TX they seem to make up a large part of the entries. They also transition through bike sizes pretty quickly creating a lot of market.

AMA negotiates group pricing through a preferred provider resulting in significantly cheaper event insurance than a track can get on its own. 
They also provide risk management training to promoters that clearly tell organizers how to avoid the situations creating these cases. 
Not to mention a rule book, fighting to keep non or low ethanol fuel at the pump, protecting and expanding public riding areas 

Are they perfect, no. But they do a lot more than any other group.  I would like to see annual releases for minors to obtain an AMA card. I think that solves a lot of the problems with minors and having both parents present at every race is unrealistic. 

Very well said.. What everyone fails to understand is this will effect everybody trying to race motocross.  The Insurance agent most tracks use cant find an underwriter, especially for minors.. (reference pro racing minimum age increasing) No insurance No racing. The competition release for minors is and has been available on the AMA website.  Everybody is working diligently to obtain a solution.   

I don't care if it's a phone book, that waiver needs to mean something or we're in serious trouble.

I know I'm gonna get flamed for this but we're a large part of the problem.  Many of us on this forum were around in the early days of the sport.  Think back to what tracks looked like in those days and compare that to what your local track looks like now.  Most sports look at injuries as something to address through rules changes, equipment improvements, and changes to the facilities.  The moto community just shruggs it off as a cost of participation and it's just a stupid way to do business.  Riding a dirt bike at 100% is no less fun on a safe and sane track than it is on something filled with jumps that seemed designed to weed the less skilled out through attrition.  Stand at the fence at your local track and think like an insurance rep for a second, does the risk you see in front of you make ANY sense for you and your company to want to be involved with?  We, the riders, the track owners, and the industry need to wake up and stop seeing moto as a sport of who has the biggest balls and more like a real sport that gives a damn about the participants.

I'm old and know it. Individual responsibility needs to be stressed from an early age and through adulthood. It seems that following rules and guidelines is not something enforced or respected by many these days. It's amazing to me the number of minors I see riding, ripping around the pits without even a helmet. Where are the parents that allow this? I think if a few people were escorted off the premises for not following park rules, regardless of age, we as riders make it known to others of these removals, Word would get out and the appearance when insurance companies did inspections, would create a more professional environment and be more insurable? JMO Also my own pet peeve, as I wander the pits I make a point to pick up items of others trash and deposit it a can. Visual environment makes a positive statement.