A charitable organization set up by off-roaders has already set up a fund to assist the victims of Saturday’s horrific events at the California 200 that claimed the lives of eight spectators and injured at least 10 others.
The tragedy is also generating demands that the off-roading industry be more closely regulated regarding safety issues for both drivers and audiences. Environmental concerns are also being broached.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out” to the victims and their families, says Chris Kelly, general manager of Rugged Race Products, which is among the sponsors of the Mojave Desert Racing Association. The seven-circuit MDR staged the Aug. 14 competition at Soggy Dry Lake in the Mojave’s Lucerne Valley just east of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Kelly urges his colleagues throughout the various automotive segments to contribute tax-deductible donations through Fast-Aid. The organization was founded by off-road industry to provide financial assistance for participants – and their families – who suffer injuries or fatalities.
“Obviously we’re shocked and the entire off-road racing community is shocked,” says Fast-Aid President Jared Tetzlaff. “It’s a very tight-knit community. You get to know people’s faces even if you don’t know their names.”
Safety education is another key aspect of Fast-Aid’s efforts, Tetzlaff adds. “When you’re miles away in the desert everybody has to be a first responder if something happens,” he points out.
There are inherent risks in off-roading, and the sense of adventure is among the elements that attracts people to the sport, he notes. “When you’re out in the desert those vehicles are coming fast,” Tetzlaff observes, calling for restraint from off-roading’s critics.
“It’s pretty difficult to play the shoulda, coulda, woulda game when these families are devastated,” he asserts.
Saturday’s crash occurred just after dusk as a crowd of onlookers pushed to the edge of the racing route at the bottom of “the rock pile,” a jump along the twisting course, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Authorities identified the driver as Brett M. Sloppy, 28, who lost control of his modified 2000 Ford Ranger at 45 to 50 miles per hour and veered into the spectators. A television account reported that Sloppy, who does custom fabrication work for off-roaders at Misery Motorsports, had to be escorted from the scene as angry bystanders began pelting him with stones.
Sloppy has not been charged with any crime. In a Facebook posting Sloppy thanked his friends and family for sticking with him, saying he is “incredibly lost and devastated.”
Law enforcement officials were planning to review video from a camera he had mounted in his truck to glean additional details.
The LA Times says that environmental groups are contending that they have long complained that the Bureau of Land Management, which issued permits for the race, lacks the adequate staff and ability to regulate off-roading events that attract large crowds.
“The feds have allowed a ‘Mad Max’ atmosphere to develop with too many people and too many machines crammed into too little space,” the paper quoted Kieran Suckling, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit environmental protection group. “The feds don’t have the resources, and apparently not the interest, to regulate off-road vehicles properly.”
The crash was tragic, but inevitable, said Suckling, according to the paper.
“You can’t put these huge crowds together with fast and powerful machines and not expect these kinds of accidents,” he said. “Our collective failure to rein in excessive off-road vehicle use is not only destroying the ecosystem but killing people. The federal government clearly does not have the manpower to sufficiently organize and regulate these events, and if you don’t have the manpower to do it safely, you shouldn’t be doing it at all.”
The event was insured for up to $2 million.
“We will go over the permit with a fine-tooth comb and make sure that they complied with everything and see whether the application needs to be modified in the future,” said David Briery, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, according to the LA Times. “Obviously, we don’t want anything like this to ever happen again.”
The bureau charged the company a $95 fee for the race, plus an additional $5 for each spectator. The MDR has been staging events on federally owned stretches of the Mojave Desert for at least 11 years, holding six races each year, Briery said.
Tom Budlong, a member of the Sierra Club’s desert committee in Los Angeles, said federal authorities, particularly the Bureau of Land Management, failed to properly control events in the face of aggressive off-roading proponents, according to the paper.
“They just haven’t shown the fortitude,” Budlong said. “Off-roaders have a lot of clout, there are a lot of them and they like to do what they like to do.”
Budlong said Saturday’s accident should prompt a review and increased regulation.
“There needs to be a better permitting system, an educational component and drivers need to be licensed for off-roading events so that repeat offenders can be fined. There needs to be basic population control whenever these activities occur.”
For more information, visit www.fast-aid.org, www.mdrracing.com, www.ruggedradios.com.
