Federal agency to probe deadly accident at California 200

Written by Los Angeles Times

Monday, August 16, 2010

Phil Wilon

In company safety rules, the promoter of the California 200 off-road race where eight spectators died says that fans must stay at least 100 feet away from the course. But videos of Saturday's crash and the promoter's other races show crowds regularly lining the track, just feet away from speeding off-roaders.

Mojave Desert Racing of El Monte also failed to adhere to a requirement in its contract with the Bureau of Land Management to keep spectators 50 feet away from the racing vehicles. The firm did not return calls seeking comment.

The federal agency Monday said it had launched an "official national review" of the accident and BLM safety policies for permitted off-road races on federal land under its jurisdiction. Along with the current investigation by the California Highway Patrol, federal law enforcement investigators will join the inquiry, said Jan Bedrosian, BLM's spokeswoman in California.

Eight spectators were killed and 10 seriously injured when driver Brett Sloppy of San Marcos lost control of his modified Ford Ranger pickup after going airborne on a crowd-pleasing hill known as the "rock pile." The truck rolled into the crowd, which had crept within a few feet of the track, just minutes after the race began.

An off-road promoter not involved in the California 200 race said the spectators never should have been allowed to be that close and that the organizer of the race should have known the potential for disaster.

"It's an extreme sport, so people want to get close. But people gravitating to a corner? Dude, are you kidding me? Why don't you just let your kid play on the freeway,'' said Don Wall, president of Snore Racing in Las Vegas. "I would have stopped the race."

Wall said at his off-road races, including the Battle of Primm in Nevada and the Midnight Special in Ridgecrest, his crew puts up fences, posts do-not-enter signs and in some cases installs K-rail to keep crowds away from hazardous spots on the course. He also tries to funnel crowds to straight-aways, where crashes are less likely.

"You have to do that. But even then, people will drive through a fence to get to an area," Wall said. "People just believe on public land, it's mine, I'll do what I want. No. There are rules, and why do we have rules? Because people will get wiped off the face of the planet."

Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/16/local/la-me-california1-200-20100816

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“It’s frustrating having a hunt ruined by people riding ATVs where off-road vehicle use is prohibited. Many ATVs look the same so there’s no way to identify violators when reporting the incident to law enforcement. There should be a requirement that off-road vehicles used on public lands have license plates or large decals. Any ATV user who follows the law and land management directives on where they can and can not use these machines should have no objection to this type of identification.”

- Holly Endersby, hunter from western Idaho