Posts
11
Joined
6/10/2010
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2012 12:59pm
Not seriously at all.
Yesterday at Red Bud, I watched the first 3 practice sessions from the bleachers in front of Larocco's leap. I saw 4 or 5 different riders eat shit over this jump. Who was in charge of flagging this blind-landing massive jump? Some 15 year old girl who has never rode a dirt bike before in her life. Eventually, the girl was replaced by someone else, after AMA officials stood and watched her pay no attention to what was happening.
More flaggers are not an improvement to safety. Getting flaggers that know what the fuck it's like to come over the backside of a jump and see someone laying in the middle of the track would be an improvement. Eliminating yellow flags on jump faces like this one all together and replacing them with a yellow strobe light with a switch and an operater standing on the side of the track able to see the front and backside of the jump is the solution. Don't tell me that the AMA doesnt have the money to buy lights and pay a credible safety marshall. Some little girl who just wants to get a tan and is more concerned with texting her boyfriend that's getting paid 8.00 an hour doesnt seem like the right person to handle riders lives.
I'm a pro license holding rider, and I'm starting to get really fed up with the poor management of safety. Never again do I want to see such carelessness towards the professional athletes of our sport.
Devolop a simple switch operated lighting system, find credible light operators (racers), train them, and pay them well to do their job well, and eliminate this safety system that rivals backyard wrestling.
Yesterday at Red Bud, I watched the first 3 practice sessions from the bleachers in front of Larocco's leap. I saw 4 or 5 different riders eat shit over this jump. Who was in charge of flagging this blind-landing massive jump? Some 15 year old girl who has never rode a dirt bike before in her life. Eventually, the girl was replaced by someone else, after AMA officials stood and watched her pay no attention to what was happening.
More flaggers are not an improvement to safety. Getting flaggers that know what the fuck it's like to come over the backside of a jump and see someone laying in the middle of the track would be an improvement. Eliminating yellow flags on jump faces like this one all together and replacing them with a yellow strobe light with a switch and an operater standing on the side of the track able to see the front and backside of the jump is the solution. Don't tell me that the AMA doesnt have the money to buy lights and pay a credible safety marshall. Some little girl who just wants to get a tan and is more concerned with texting her boyfriend that's getting paid 8.00 an hour doesnt seem like the right person to handle riders lives.
I'm a pro license holding rider, and I'm starting to get really fed up with the poor management of safety. Never again do I want to see such carelessness towards the professional athletes of our sport.
Devolop a simple switch operated lighting system, find credible light operators (racers), train them, and pay them well to do their job well, and eliminate this safety system that rivals backyard wrestling.
IMO, a jump like Larocco's Leap needs 3 people: One at the landing of the jump, one at the take off and one at the corner before the jump. All three will have radios with a dedicated channel for them only. The person at the landing is responsible for radioing the other two of any situation at the landing of the jump. With someone waving a yellow as the rider is entering the straight before the jump (or the corner for that matter) and one at the take off the riders are sure to see one or both of the flags.
I remember seeing Albertyn and Lusk (think it knocked Ezra out of the series as I recall) come together at a SX in practice in the 90s due to poor flagging and not a single thing has changed. Flagging has been and will be an issue forever so rub a lamp if you think anything will ever change.
Another point I have is although she wasn't waving her flag should a jump like Larrocos Leap not have a guy with the "Wheels on the ground" flag. A yellow flag does not stop these guys from jumping anything whatsoever. I was flagging a drop off at the national, during the LCQ, on the last lap a rider in about 20th place fell hard and broke his wrist, so obviously I'm waving my flag and trying to point them to a safe line so they dont go 4th gear into him and his bike off this drop off. THE RIDERS DID NOT LISTEN or pay attention. This is the last lap of the LCQ, they have no shot of making it in half a lap, and they were flying right at this guy! The only thing that will keep a rider from airing out a jump is the wheels on the ground flag.
All that being said, obviously no flag being waved is unacceptable. I think as you can see from the "Drop Off" thread DC and MX Sports does care, and I'd just like to throw my name in the hat, I'd flag every national for an entire season and I'm sure there would be a lot of others willing to do the same if the money was right.
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
I know that finding people to sit out in the sun is a pain in the ass. Pay them better, and you'll get better people to do the job.
Post a reply to: How serious does our organization take safety?