Death of 8 at Off-Road Race Leaves Many Stunned and Others Asking Why
On a particularly horrific Saturday night in Lucerne Valley, California, eight people were killed when a truck rolled and skidded off of a dirt track and crashed into a crowd of fans and onlookers. Brett M. Sloppy, the driver of the truck survived the accident and may have not even been hurt. Witnesses describe the scene as chaotic and with bodies everywhere. The race, the California 200, was what is known as a desert race and was organized by a company called South El Monte-based Mojave Desert Racing.
First, the friends and families of the dead deserve heartfelt condolences. This was by all accounts an incredibly tragic accident. However, it also seems like an incredibly senseless accident as well. According to USA today, there were no barriers at the site of the crash and fans reported that these races rarely have any kind of safety guards. Apparently, according to fans, they were allowed to stand so close to the track that they could literally reach out and touch the trucks as the raced past on the course. Moreover, this accident comes on the heels of several others involving multiple fatalities around the country: an illegal drag race in Maryland that killed eight, an NRHA accident in Arizona that killed one, and a drag race in Tennessee that killed six.
What is going on here?!?! Obviously, organizers of these races are either not aware or not concerned about the very real possibility of serious injury and death. Even if those fans didn’t care or were not aware of the risk, where are the organizers and promoters of these races? What other sporting event would people go to where there was a palpable risk of being killed: golf, hockey, baseball? Would responsible parents take their children to these events if they knew of these dangers? The race that resulted in these tragic deaths seemed by all accounts to be particularly dangerous. Why does it look like almost no precaution was taken to ensure the safety of fans? Moreover, if the fans were not willing to take steps to protect themselves, event organizers must be aware of and take precautions from these risks.
These observations are made all the more appalling by the fact that the property on which the race took place (and, one can only assume were sanctioned) was owned by the federal government and operated by the Federal Bureau of Land Management. How could the federal government allow such preventable tragedies to take place? In a word, ridiculous.
I can only hope that someone in the off-road racing world takes notice of this tragedy and takes steps to make the race a safe(r) more enjoyable event for everyone involved.
