10 year old dies at Miller Motorsports Park...

[djgardner]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=29096729#FH8YExPgVq55ZtxM.99

I don't know them, but I can't imagine what his parents are going through right now. So sad to hear this news.

It's always a huge conflict of emotions when the consequences of my hobby are not only negative, but permanent. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, and happy...and it confuses me, and makes me doubt my motives for participating (and certainly for encouraging my kids to participate) when they aren't.

 

[Deleted member 12904]

A friend at work was telling me about this today. I guess it was a kid in his neighborhood. So sad I honestly get a sick feeling thinking about this. I love dirt bikes and even have bought my 5yo kids one but am so hesitant to get them going because I worry about stuff like this so much.

 

[Herzog]

Horrible. The only condolence anybody can get out of this is at least he went having fun. Much better than many other possibilities. Still very sad. No idea how I'd cope with that.

 

[ricsrx]

Maybe that is why I hoped Hunter would like rock crawling, with that sport I could minimize the risk but he wants to go fast so as the parents stated in the article, they minimized the risk as much as possible with having all the safety gear.

 

[flexyfool]

If I had sons, they would not be allowed to do motocross or football. Probably not even any contact team sports. They would be guided towards hobbies that are safe, promote a healthy lifestyle, and can be enjoyed throughout their lives. Trail riding. Tennis. The odds are too great they will be seriously hurt, and the injuries will degrade their later life.

 

[djgardner]

My son is about getting to that age...and I have a feeling he will totally like the dirt bike thing. And I really look forward to riding with him one day...but if he decided soccer (or basketball, or baseball, or chess, or even that Olympic ice game where they push the little thing and then sweep the ice like crazy people in front of it-I can't remember what its called) was his thing, rather than racing, I wouldn't be too upset.

(It's bugging me...what is that ice game called? Its right on the tip of my tongue but I can't think of it...GRRRR...someone help me out here...)

 

[Kevin B.]

Curling.

I'm torn about what I'm going to let my boy get into as he gets older. I want to encourage him to do whatever he's interested in, but I dunno about football. I guess I'd better add motorcross to the "let me think about it first" list.

 

[djgardner]

Curling.

I'm torn about what I'm going to let my boy get into as he gets older. I want to encourage him to do whatever he's interested in, but I dunno about football. I guess I'd better add motorcross to the "let me think about it first" list.

CURLING! YES...thank you.

 

[Moabxjeeper]

Curling?

 

[anderson750]

If I had sons, they would not be allowed to do motocross or football. Probably not even any contact team sports. They would be guided towards hobbies that are safe, promote a healthy lifestyle, and can be enjoyed throughout their lives. Trail riding. Tennis. The odds are too great they will be seriously hurt, and the injuries will degrade their later life.

Why not? you cannot live your life in a bubble. It does not matter if you are riding or racing, you can get hurt or even killed. If you look at the statistics, there are more people killed every year from recreational riding than there are from competition. People who race are always wearing more protective and most likely higher quality gear than your average weekend warrior or recreationalist.

 

[flexyfool]

Why not? you cannot live your life in a bubble. It does not matter if you are riding or racing, you can get hurt or even killed. If you look at the statistics, there are more people killed every year from recreational riding than there are from competition. People who race are always wearing more protective and most likely higher quality gear than your average weekend warrior or recreationalist.

Why live life on a knife edge where 1 wrong decision by you or someone else can ruin your life? A 10 year old does not have the capacity to understand consequences of serious injury, and should not be put in such positions.

 

[Chase39]

This is so sad for the whole racing community. Stuff like this is really a rare occurrence. I know of 4 people passing away in our region from racing accidents in my 16 years of racing. Racing teaches the younger kids much faster than the others that occasionally ride. especially with a track full of experienced riders to give advice. I would have not been half the rider I became without the family of the racing community. Tyce was a great rider. Heart wrenching to see something like this to happen to somebody so young. R.I.P. Tyce #86

 

[STAG]

I'm with Anderson. You're just as likely to die while driving to a chess or tennis tournament.

There is a difference between letting your son play football and motocross, and "forcing" them because that's what you want them to be good at. I'm not saying that's what happened here MMP, but in my opinion let the kid practice whatever sport they want to be good at and are interested in.

Still do everything you can to take the risk out; buy the proper safety equipment and only allow the kid to play at their skill level.

I'm not arguing or suggesting you should raise your kid the same way as I would, I say raise your kid however you want. That's just how I feel on how I would raise a kid.

I am helping raise my gf's 5 y.o. kid, and although he is not my blood son or even my adoptive son, I am as much a father figure in his life as he has right now. He's learning to ride a bike and it's awesome. But he always wears his gear, never rides in areas where he could get hit by a car and is always under supervision while he's learning. Granted eventually he will not be supervised once his skill level is up to where he doesn't need to be supervised, but until then, we're right there. Can something happen even with gear, supervision and good common sense? Yeah. But for me personally, I feel sorry for the kids that were raised sheltered. Again not saying that by promoting chess or tennis or other non-contact sports is sheltering, that's not my point and that's not what I'm implying.

"Sheltered" to me is: being so overbearing and cautious on childhood raising that when it comes time to support themselves, they are not ready for the real world.

Sorry about getting sidetracked on the sheltered thing, because that's not what any of this is about. This is about raising your kids and choosing which activities they are allowed to participate in. Which has nothing to do with sheltering.

 

[Cascadia]

I think a ten year old knows exactly what will and won't get him hurt. That is the reason he puts on a helmet and boots and any other pads when he goes out to ride. You hear about more kids getting injured playing all of the other non contact sports than from riding. I was never allowed to ride growing up. Mostly because we didn't have the money for the toys. But now that I can buy my own things I do the things I never could. Every time I see a little Ktm 50 mini I get excited for my boy to ride with me. He will have all those opportunities I didn't. If he likes it, great. If not, great. I'm not going to deprive him of things because there is a one in a million chance he may get hurt. I sprained my wrist in the last race and it was all my fault. But I wouldn't trade a good wrist for the experience or memory.

 

[phatfoto]

If I had sons, they would not be allowed to do motocross or football. Probably not even any contact team sports. They would be guided towards hobbies that are safe, promote a healthy lifestyle, and can be enjoyed throughout their lives. Trail riding. Tennis. The odds are too great they will be seriously hurt, and the injuries will degrade their later life.

Football taught my son a strong work ethic and teamwork and the power of good communication. Sorry to hear this young man has passed. And the anguish of the family deciding to donate organs.

 

[Chase39]

I think a ten year old knows exactly what will and won't get him hurt. That is the reason he puts on a helmet and boots and any other pads when he goes out to ride. You hear about more kids getting injured playing all of the other non contact sports than from riding. I was never allowed to ride growing up. Mostly because we didn't have the money for the toys. But now that I can buy my own things I do the things I never could. Every time I see a little Ktm 50 mini I get excited for my boy to ride with me. He will have all those opportunities I didn't. If he likes it, great. If not, great. I'm not going to deprive him of things because there is a one in a million chance he may get hurt. I sprained my wrist in the last race and it was all my fault. But I wouldn't trade a good wrist for the experience or memory.

Cascadia is very right, Tyce, the rider who passed away this weekend, Was very experienced. Probably a better rider than most on here. I raced the the second to last moto that day. Tyce's being very last. The track was rough and you expect people to make mistakes. 2 pro's in my class had pretty serious wrecks. one with a broken wrist. but in the mini classes you never expect this. especially 65s. It was just a freak accident.

In my opinion if you want a kid to ride or have a kid that wants to learn. Start them off young. Take them to local races. learn as much as you can and ask questions. I started at 5, my little brother a 3-4. You would be surprised at the other things that riding a bike that young can teach you. I learned all my mechanical ability from racing and riding. I had to rebuild my engines at 10 years old because my dad made me haha. Even driving cars. I know I'm a lot better driver because of motocross. After years of riding you develop the ability to watch for and react to sudden instances on the road, trail, and track. My old drivers ed teacher will vouch for that. We had a conversation about it. He said to me every kid that has a background of riding he can tell a definite higher driving skill when they first start. but again that't just my opinion

 

[anderson750]

Racing motorcycles has taught my son a lot about responsibility and discipline. He is responsible for helping me work on and maintain his bike as well as setting up everything at the races. He is disciplined in his school work because if he does not have good grades or gets in trouble at school, the bike is parked. I am not saying that racing is the answer for everything but if a kid has a passion for a sport, use it as an opportunity to learn something about life. So many kids today are lazy and irresponsible because they have no passion for anything. I feel very fortunate that my son has the same passion as me and we can do stuff together.

Tired kids do not get in trouble.

This is thread has derailed from the true tragedy of the loss of a young kids life, but I know several people that have had life changing injuries due to racing motorcycles and none of them regret the choices. They all understood the risks and their families do too. I can tell you one thing that is certain, the racing community is a family and his family will have a lot of support to get them through this.

 

[ChestonScout]

Why not? you cannot live your life in a bubble. It does not matter if you are riding or racing, you can get hurt or even killed. If you look at the statistics, there are more people killed every year from recreational riding than there are from competition. People who race are always wearing more protective and most likely higher quality gear than your average weekend warrior or recreationalist.

I think a ten year old knows exactly what will and won't get him hurt. That is the reason he puts on a helmet and boots and any other pads when he goes out to ride. You hear about more kids getting injured playing all of the other non contact sports than from riding. I was never allowed to ride growing up. Mostly because we didn't have the money for the toys. But now that I can buy my own things I do the things I never could. Every time I see a little Ktm 50 mini I get excited for my boy to ride with me. He will have all those opportunities I didn't. If he likes it, great. If not, great. I'm not going to deprive him of things because there is a one in a million chance he may get hurt. I sprained my wrist in the last race and it was all my fault. But I wouldn't trade a good wrist for the experience or memory.

Im with these guys.

Maybe I have a little different outlook on life to. I believe when its your time to go its your time to go. This does not mean its acceptable to take unnecessary risks, just that its really out of our hands.


My dad bought me a yz80 when I was 12. I wasnt stupid or crazy. I just tooled around and had a friggin riot. I also played football as a kid. I loved it. I learned a lot. I never got hurt. One of my favorite child hood memories is winning the mini bowl. I think it was the first time I felt like I really accomplished something.

I will not deprive my boy of making his own great memories. But unlike my Dad.....I hope to be involved with my boy and make memories together.



It is super sad about the boy that died. Im sure his parents are devastated and rightfully so.

 

[glockman]

So sad. I love my boys more than anything on this earth. A close second is spending a day with them riding and enjoying our passion together. I can't imagine not being able to do that for any reason, but death or injury have got to be the worst reason. We should all be grateful for the time we get to enjoy this life with our loved ones.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[rholbrook]

Harrison wants to start racing the desert and enduros. In fact, the Knolls was going to be his first race but he wants to go on spring break with a friend so we are pushing off to the next race. It scares me to think of losing him or any of my kids but just because its motorcycles, wrestling or football doesnt mean I'm not letting him participate. He loves all three of them. I have been riding since I was 9 and can't think of anything I would rather do. I dont care for the track anymore but I love riding single track. My friend's little brother got hit crossing the road and died. No body saw that coming but should I keep my kids inside the house? My friend growing up died of Leukemia, should we not let our kids live in a bubble?

I have broken wrists, hands, ribs, blew a knee out and been stitched up from riding. I would and will continue to do it all over again.

There are two activities that my kids would absolutely drop everything for and that is riding and boating. The later I enables me to get to know their friends because you are confined in such a small area. We boat twice a week usually in the summer and its worth every dime I spend doing it. Like Cheston, I too believe that when its your time, its your time. Thats not to say you should go out and be stupid but you shouldnt live your life afraid to do anything.