Safety and Tragedy in Our Sport

I keep seeing all this bs about safety and what not. I don’t understand ? It’s an extremely dangerous sport and anyone who does it should fully understand that. It will probably never be a safe sport, let’s get over it and if you don’t like how dangerous it is then get into a stick and ball sport. 

Internet tough guy has spoken! Safety is for wussies!

lol tough guy? Not trying to be a tough guy. Just don’t understand all these posts about safety with one of the most dangerous sports you can do. If it’s too dangerous go do something more safe is all I’m saying. 

So your answer to grow the sport is drive people away? 

Safer, and safe, have different meanings. I would think you would have learned that, even in Special Ed. 

I suppose there has to be a balance here. Yes the sport is inherently dangerous. In a twisted way it’s why we get the rush isn’t it?  If you could huck the big double in real life with no consequences like in a video game would it even be fun when you did? That being said there’s ways to make it more dangerous with bad track prep, flagging, class mixing, etc. We all know it’s dangerous and injury is likely and you just have to accept that fact, but you also have to be aware of issues that are just preventable. If you see something at a track, say something respectfully to the promoter or track owner about it. If it’s not fixed, load up and leave. We’ve had to do this a few times at tracks and never once have I regretted it. 

Its dangerous, but so is being in public in a downtown.

Lets just mitigate the real big safety hazards. Most come from poorly built or poorly maintained obstacles. The "less prep is more"  theory hurts people more than a little extra time spent maintaining tracks. These two things are more likely to hurt someone than an off track excursion like what caused the dbag goggle peddler to sue a track for, and theyre both usually present right before our eyes but people chest thump and say arghhhhh this is moto!

6 footer landings with 3 foot take offs in supercross in a 3 in or technical section are built to hurt people. 

It is my understanding that this fella who recently lost his life, did it on a jump face covered in ruts and kickers.. A single maintenance touch up of that jump face, dude could still be here. They chop the 6' lander on the 3 in 2 weeks ago, Jerry wouldn't be in his position. Im not saying do away with triples, but let's use our heads when building them. 

I have to agree, you can only make it safe to a degree. After that, it will still be dangerous much like football. Safety gear has greatly evolved over the past decade but both sports still run the risk of concussions, strains, sprains, tears, broken bones and paralysis. In the end, each of us, or our parents if minors, must weigh the risk versus reward and understand it’s a matter of when, not if we get injured. 

In my nearly 5 decades of riding / racing, I’ve had a couple bad concussions, broken scapula, broken ribs, broken arm, broken fingers but nothing slowed me down until my back started hurting. The reward no longer outweighs the risk or pain for me. Each of us has to find our own jumping off place. Enjoy the ride while you can!

Natural terrain mx tracks used to be super tough, then the bikes got better and SX happend..

Why cant mx have hard enduro sections instead of insane mega leaps at sketchy speeds? 

GP mx was renowned for almost impossible hills and off cambers, really testing riders talent and skills. Now its a circus act of high flying bikes that dont break. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/JLph5IbQEwc?si=rE7wiwkqOwDy5oQc

I would love to see riders attacking sections like this than flying 100ft in 4th gear. At least they can walk away if they mess it up. https://youtube.com/shorts/mQlXAP_A3Ik?si=c2ybhXKkqEB-D8do

Incredible hillclimb. 5 month old upload, 5 million views. Not SX, no doubles or triples or 100ft quads. Everyone walked away..1 guy made it 3x. 

https://youtu.be/A7tqPA-mt4s?si=DlYuShz2w1zwR_mK

That’s cool but I don’t see that working as part of a “safer” mx track if you have the potential of being behind a guy going up the hill and he loops out.  Now you gotta dodge a bike flipping down hill towards you while you’re going up the hill?  I think I’ll take a pass on that.

correct, more people = more accidents...tracks are already over crowded, and getting shut down.  less idiots = less track closures and more room to ride.  

Track would go out of business quick

I’ve done that and sadly it almost always falls on deaf ears. After I watched my buddy get taken out by a rider exiting the track on a blind landing. (He broke a bunch of ribs, a collarbone, and collapsed his lung) I still saw riders doing that and other sketchy things. When I mentioned to the guy running the place that we should have a quick riders meeting before the next session, you would have thought I asked him for a million dollars and to screw his wife. 

Same goes for when I’ve talked calmly to a mini dad about not putting their kid on track solo when the A guys are out. Or to tell their little ripper on an 85 to chill out and nobody is winning practice. They get super defensive and start spouting nonsense about how they paid to be here same as me. 

I don’t get it. 

I think I have this one solved!

I use judgement to take responsibility for my own safety.

If I see equipment moving on the track while bikes are out there, I pack up and go home.

First lap? Roll all the jumps and take it easy, inspect the track and make sure the bike is working.

If there's a weird kicker on a jump, then I'll find a better line or just roll it.

If there are potentially dangerous hazards near the track edges (fence posts, equipment, rocks, barriers, etc) then I go slow to make sure I don't careen off the track.

I was closing in on a slower rider but now they've disappeared? I should go slow and pay attention at any blind areas of the track

 

It’s unfortunate there’s idiots among us but that’s exactly when you pack up and head to a track that the owner actually cares. The fact you tried is all you can do. If it wasn’t received well then you’ve got your answer on if you should spend another dime at their facility. 

The bikes are too damn fast. 

Wonder if you'd feel the same way if someone you were close with was paralyzed or killed.  I doubt it.

Dood, this is a BLOODSPORT, no different than MMA, NFL, NHL, F1, etc. There is no sport, if there is no blood.

A pro sx/mx/superstupidcross racer is trading their body and future well being, for cold hard cash, no different than a prostitute.  

Sad part is, I've yet to see one of these "pro racers" actually retire after racing. They risk life and limb for years, only to have to continue being a slave to the system the rest of their lives.

Anddddddd, men in suits, that these racers have never met IRL, take home 90% of the profit!!!! 

#stupidAF 

I agree with some of that to a degree, but at the same time they are a lot more reliable. 

My biggest injury came from a early 4-stroke blowing up on the face of a large jump in 2005. Had other close calls with 2-strokes and early 4-strokes blowing up, just not at the exact wrong time.

I also feel that tracks are safer than they used to be. 120-130 foot jumps with really big consequences were pretty common on public tracks in the mid 2000's. It seems the big jumps at tracks these days have big rolled out landings with minimal consequence if you come up short. And the bikes weren't nearly as capable then.

A decent rider on a modern 450 can show up to just about any track in America and safely jump all the jumps second lap with minimal risk. The power and consistent, dependable delivery (no carb issues) take a lot of risk out IMO. 

I have no data or evidence, but I feel there were more catastrophic injuries like paralysis and deaths in the 2002-2010 time frame than there is now. I feel the early 4-stroke era was quite deadly. 

Either way, we should ensure we are eliminating any of the other variables like not separating practices, lack of competent flaggers, track hazards, equipment on track, etc. 

This is such a great post... I like how you said respectfully tell the promotor and leave if not fixed. Puts safety and responsibility back into your own hands.

I never thought I would say this as a kid growing up but this past weekend I was pretty envious of the legacy tracks at the California State ORV parks like Prarie City (next to the Hangtown national track), Hollister, Carnegie and Metcalf.  They typically aren't groomed but you could go there and put in motos pretty safely and cost effectively.  We don't really have options like that here in Washington.  Moto Pacific, where I rode yesterday, was built really safely and the promotor did a really nice job but of course in a practice environment like that there were a lot of people on the track at once making it a bit sketchier.  

Imagine if you liked f1 and could just go buy an f1 car and race it, or pick up a football and sub in for an nfl team, or how about grab some 4oz gloves and step right into the UFC ring.....Any jack or jill can go buy a 450f and go right to their local track and do their best tomac impersonation without any training, safety checks, classes etc.  The only requirement is boots, helmet and googles and I've seen people in work boots at the track.

So if you think expanding the sport is going to make it safer and lead to less accidents, less law suits and less track closers....well then, I have a bridge to sell you.   That burning you're feeling isn't my stupid, its your only two functional neurons fighting for their life trying to comprehend basic math and pattern recognition.  

Will anything be done?? 

Well, I should post that meme a 2nd time for this comment you made. If you read my post as stating that making the sport more popular would make it safer, then I'm actually surprised you spelled neurons correctly. You must have had help from autocorrect. 

Making the sport safer, and making it safe, are different subjects. If the only answer you have is it's a dangerous sport, then excuse yourself from the conversation.