Did you know that if a 12 year old fails to flag on a triple, and another rider lands on you, the track owner may be liable even though you signed a waiver?

Did you ever see a 12 year old flagger at the local car dirt track race? Of course not.

Riders and parents need to wake up. Nascar, NHRA & IRL are constantly working to improve car & track design for driver safety. For example, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they have installed new 'soft walls' that absorb energy and will help reduce the impact of a crash. What do the AMA & other MX race organizations do for safety?

Right now, I feel that I am the only outspoken person in the industry on the safety issue. I feel that most after-market manufacturers and dealers share my views, but are afraid that they may lose a customer or a sale. I also believe that promoters are afraid they will lose spectators if they design a safer track.

Did you ever notice that at most nationals, the promoter hammers strong stakes into the ground? This is a good way to break a riders foot, if he strays 5 feet off the track. If the rider strays 20 feet they may hit a tractor or whatever else might be parked in the way. Or, if he does an endo, he is liable to impale himself on a stake.

There are also major problems with young, untrained flaggers. The following excerpt describes the dangers of a particular track and the need for trained flaggers:

I watched the Wednesday evening practice at Perris and there was a young guy on a KX 125, Number 924, that was flying. He was doing cancans, heel-clickers and knickknacks off the big double on the far side of the track. They need flagmen out there real bad. On a blind double, there was a six-bike pile-up; they just kept on coming over and piling on. (Michael Patrick - MikeeeP@freshdirt.com, MX East, Dec. 15, 1999, p. 9)

MX has few fatalities but several crippling injuries. I think that many of these serious injuries can be prevented. It is my understanding that there are currently no track inspections, no bike or saftey equipment inspections, and no jump building guidelines.

Something is obviously wrong when a great rider like Jeff Emig spins too much on take-off and breaks both wrists. (If the jump had been a table top he would have been fine.) When your kid (who is not as good as Emig!) spins a tire and misses a triple, he will also be hurt. He might even have a cracked helmet, from previous crashes. Most race organizations inspect safety gear before they allow you to race, however, we have not seen this happening at amateur MX races.

We were surprised to read that the factories do not even pay the hopital bills of their riders (Motocross Action, April 99, p. 20.) Also, in the same article, we read that "Pro racers can pass under a yellow flag" (p. 20). We think this is a very dangerous rule and should be changed to prevent accidents.

Moto-Mom, please see the article, "Safety Still Issue," to see what Formula 1 does for driver safety and the article"Staging Light" to see the emphasis the NHRA places on safety.

Maybe we should hire the F1 people to make our sport safer for the riders. The AMA should quit worrying about NASCAR type numbering and instead start working towards raising rider safety to NASCAR caliber.

The sled magazines are also printing articles concerning issues from drinking to snow-cross safety. For example, the following excerpt by Steve Janes was printed in SnowAction:

With the influence of TV coverage, expect tracks to be much more dangerous (read big air and blind jumps) this season. Expect more crashes, damaged sleds and injuries. But ratings should be high. It may come down to the last man standing (Janes, Snow Action, Nov 1998, p 6).

Also, please read the article, "Safety First: Are Racers Safe?"from Snow Action Magazine. I would like to see dirtbike magazine editors take a responsible stand on these issues to try and improve motocross. Specifically, arguing for trained flaggers, better track designs, etc.