Top riders hurt. Jumps take Windham out.
Two riders killed in Ohio, two paralyzed in CA in two weeks.
Kawasaki semi empty in Las Vegas.

After investigating motocross injuries, the Consumer Products Safety Commission ruled to ban motocross! This hasn't happened yet and lets make sure it doesn't. We need to regulate our sport before the government does.

Motocross is a rough, tough, and exciting sport, that for years I have enjoyed and encouraged youths to become involved in. However, I no longer encourage them because of the way the sport has evolved. Tracks have become too dangerous. The spectacular jumps are geared towards the crowd and have greatly increased the rider's risk and serious injuries. We have gotten what we have always wanted with SuperCross and TV coverage but this has ruined the sport for beginners. Pro riders are at a very high risk now and by mid-season many of the factory semi's only have one healthy rider left.

The positive aspects of this sport need to be saved. Motocross is fun and it gives young riders something to focus on. Beginning and senior riders are not staying in the sport because they are having difficulties with the tracks. If these guys aren't having fun, they're going to find something else to do. The main thing that we need to do is stand back and look in from the outside to try and save a sport that we love.

I've spent time in several emergency rooms with amateur and expert riders. At one national, the hospital told me they had six broken femurs and riders were also being transported to another hospital. The injured beginner rider I was with had broken his foot badly on a jump that he was afraid to double. He came up so short that the frame cased the top of the jump and the impact shattered his foot. I think that we are all at blame. Motorcycle manufacturers, promoters, aftermarket manufacturers, riders, and parents should all beconcerned about MX safety. The promoters are turning their heads and the AMA has no teeth whatsoever. On amateur day they are signing up pro riders instead of worrying about amateur safety. On pro day they are worried about the number of spectators instead of pro rider safety. Promoters haven't designed the track safely, they have designed it to be spectacular, and we've got to wonder what the medical industry thinks. When is somebody like the medical industry or the Consumer Products Safety Commission going to take a look at us and regulate or eliminate motocross? Remember three wheel ATV's were banned!

I think the best way to address this safety issue is to change the track design. Motocross is the only sport now that has novice riders riding the same demanding track as national riders. We have a large double or triple jump, which Jeremy McGrath, our top rider, usually makes but the local novice who wants to win at national amateur day will be attempting the same jump without the skills. If doubles and triples could be turned into tabletops, much of the danger would be instantly removed. For example, if a rider misses a double he's either going to land on top of it or land on the edge, possibly getting kicked over the bars, and if he lands too short he's going to slam into the face of the second jump. It doesn't take a physics engineer to realize the force when you hit something like that. Many of these injuries are very serious; fractures, internal injuries, paralyzation and death. If there is a mechanical problem or the rider makes a mistake, missing a gear, he's going to come up short on a double or triple.

If the doubles and triples were filled in to make a tabletop, you could still have a long jump and if you missed, you could land on top or on the edge of the landing ramp and not crash. When Doug Henry crashed at the nationals because his bike seized on a double, he broke both of his arms. This injury could have been prevented if the double was a tabletop. There should be room for beginners and pros to make a small error or have a mechanical problem without taking a trip to the emergency room.

A high percentage of injuries also occur in the long whoop sections. Many crashes occur at the end of the whoops. There should be a regulation on the length. If the tracks were more rideable, local pros would be able to run closer with factory riders and races would be much more exciting, especially on the national level.

Untrained, twelve-year-old flaggers do not belong on a motocross track. Several times, I have seen riders jump and land on a fallen rider or bike because of flagging errors. Many injuries could be eliminated if flaggers were at least eighteen years old and trained. Parents, imagine you're racing, face plant yourself on a triple, and another rider jumps on you because of a flagging error. Do not let your child race with young flaggers, the least you can do is volunteer.

I feel that the AMA should not allow doubles and triples and use tabletops instead. Also, placing restrictions on the lengths of whoop sections would be a good start towards rider safety. I really think that the AMA needs to hire an outside safety committee, and they also need bike safety inspections. NASCAR and NHRA evaluate crashes and are concerned about the safety of the participants. I believe that if NASCAR were running motocross they would have made some dramatic changes.

It's time to force the AMA to improve track design. Influential people in this sport, manufacturers and journalists, should address this safety issue to improve motocross. Riders and parents, voice your concerns to the AMA, track owners, and district sports committee reps. Aftermarket companies can pressure magazines (smaller ad budget) to address the MX safety issue. Manufacturers should be pushing for safer track design. Track promoters could be the best at promoting the sport by designing safer tracks.

Most Track promoters, magazines, and tee-shirt vendors are making a lot of money because motocross has turned into an extreme sport. With all the injuries, how can they expect to keep making a profit in the future? Most dealers and aftermarket companies rely on riders for customers. Every time a rider is injured they lose money.

I wrote this hoping that people would realize that motocross injuries have become excessive and serious. Just in the last couple of weeks two riders were killed in Ohio because of double and triple jumps and a rider at the California National was paralyzed because of a double. Pro Rider injuries are also a problem: Kawasaki had an empty eighteen wheeler at the end of the SuperCross season. At Charlotte, Windham came up short on a double and was kicked over the bars and about two laps later Larocco did the same thing. A week later, Windham missed again on a jump and separated his shoulder.

At this point I am very angry over the number of deaths and serious injuries that could be prevented. When I wrote this initially, I did not realize the number of riders who were killed or paralyzed. Initial feedback from pro to novice riders has agreed that we need to address the safety issue. Promoters are calling me claiming that there isn't a problem when there obviously is. I will no longer talk to promoters on the phone until they fix their tracks. It's about money vs. safety. Track owners need to improve track design on their own because the AMA is not addressing safety.

You don't have to agree with my title, but it got you to read this. Now help the sport out: make copies, talk to riders, parents, promoters, to help start some positive changes.

Speak out, make copies. Riders talk to promoters.
We all miss triples, even Jeremy.
Let's fill them in, it's still a jump.

Richard Daly