MULTIPLE DEATHS AT OFF ROAD EVENT

[Matt2001TJ]

Hi gang, I was at this event and this happend right in front of us.Had I been another eighty feet farther down the track and me and family and friends could have been in this.... Bad news trust me. Lots of medical choppers and other emergency personnel.
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Copied from yahoo news
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Lucerne Valley Ca. – An off-road truck plowed into a crowd and scattered "bodies everywhere" moments after sailing off a jump at a California race Saturday, killing eight people and leaving 12 injured, authorities and witnesses said.

The crash came shortly after the start of the 8 p.m. PDT race called the California 200, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.

Bachman said eight people died and 12 were injured, several of them seriously. Seven ambulances and 10 emergency aircraft responded to the scene. Most of the injured were airlifted from the area to Loma Linda University Medical Center or St. Mary's Medical Center.

"There was dust everywhere, people screaming, people running," David Conklin, a photographer covering the event for off-road magazines, told The Associated Press.

Conklin said the Prerunner truck was among the first 20 off the line in the race, and had just gone over a jump known as "the rockpile" about two miles into the race.

He said he watched the vehicle sail through the air. Then he turned to watch for other cars when he heard the commotion caused by the crash.

"When I got up to the vehicle I could tell that several people were trapped. There were just bodies everywhere," he said. "One woman with a major head wound (was) lying in a pool of blood. Someone else was crushed beneath the car."

The truck came to a rest upside down with its oversized wheels pointing toward the sky.

Officials said the driver wasn't hurt but had to flee the scene to escape angry spectators.

The 200-mile race is part of a series held in Soggy Dry Lake Bed near the city of Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Tens of thousands of people attend the California 200, in which a variety of off-road vehicles take jumps and other obstacles and reach speeds up to 100 mph on the 50-mile off-road course. The race had been scheduled to last through the night.

The crowd was standing within 10 feet of the track with no guard rails separating them from the speeding vehicles.

"There were no barriers at all," Jeff Talbott, inland division chief for the California Highway Patrol, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

He said that the driver, who wasn't named, was forced to run from the scene when the crowd grew unruly and some began throwing rocks at him. It was not clear why he lost control of the truck.

The CHP does not normally investigate crashes at organized races, but took the lead on this probe because of its scope and had set up a command center at the starting line of the race.

The federal Bureau of Land Management was assisting in the investigation.

The event was sponsored by the South El Monte-based Mojave Desert Racing. No one picked up the phone at a number listed on the group's website early Sunday, and its message mailbox was full.

The crash was the latest in a series of race accidents that have proved deadly to spectators.

[OLLIE]

Here we go... Let the legal battle and regulations start on how these races are conducted now. IMO it's completely the responsibility of the spectators in these events to keep themselves out of harm's way. Then they have the nerve to stone the driver????

[cruiserlarry]

First, my condolences go out to everyone affected by this horrendous event.

I understand the thrill of viewing an off-road race from an up-close vantage point...but I wonder how many of the folks in that crowd, especially kids who are with their parents, really understand how serious that risk is. I'll bet not many do.

This was an accident, to be sure, but the consequences were preventable, IMO. Blaming the driver, is a knee-jerk reaction, and an unfortunate side effect of this tragedy. He is there to win a race - not to worry about the safety of the crowd watching him. For that he is dependent on the promoters of the event, and the intelligence of those folks attending it.

My concern lies with the promoters of this event. This type of accident is more a matter of when, than if, it will occur. And one of the effects of having no effect restrictions or protections in place for spectators, in such a risky environment, is the likelihood of loosing the ability to put on the event altogether. This is, of course, no comfort to the families of those involved yesterday.

An ounce of prevention...

[BorregoWrangler]

Ouch! My heart goes out to all those injured and affected by this terrible accident.

My thoughts on this mirror those of Ollie and Larry. Sad stuff.

[DaveK]

"There was dust everywhere, people screaming, people running," David Conklin, a photographer covering the event for off-road magazines, told The Associated Press.

Conklin said the Prerunner truck was among the first 20 off the line in the race, and had just gone over a jump known as "the rockpile" about two miles into the race.

He said he watched the vehicle sail through the air. Then he turned to watch for other cars when he heard the commotion caused by the crash.

Our own Big Dave (Dave Conklin, KI6LYZ) is the professional photographer referred to in the AP news release. I imagine he captured the event on film (or an SD card). I would like to see his account of what happened.

[cruiserlarry]

Our own Big Dave (Dave Conklin, KI6LYZ) is the professional photographer referred to in the AP news release. I imagine he captured the event on film (or an SD card). I would like to see his account of what happened.

x2

KI6LYZ, are you out there ???

[BlueFJ]

I've often watched how close the spectators stand to the track at these events and thought that's a disaster just waiting to happen. ...and as for the bozo's throwing rocks at the driver... what a bunch of @$$holes!

[BigDave]

Yes I was there. That is me quoted in the Associated Press story posted on Yahoo and other media outlets around the world.

First off, I hope no one should ever have to go through what happened Saturday night. It was an unbelieveably horrific and tragic event. My heart goes out to all those involved, including those that where not involved but wittnessed the event. I still can not shake some of the images from my mind.

10 minuets before the race started I was standing where the truck would then come to rest upside down. I had leap frogged my way up that side of the course to the actual Rock Pile jump and was there when the race started. More and more people kept coming up in front of me blocking my view of the oncoming trucks and forcing me closer to the course in order to get my shots. After several trucks went by I moved to the oposite side of the course where there were less people and I didn't need to be as close to the course to get my shots. Just a couple of trucks later the incident happened. I just can't do justice using my keyboard what I saw with my eyes. It just wasn't good.

My safety is my number one priority when I go out to these races. If I don't feel I'm in a safe spot to shoot, I move and modify the shot. I also never turn my back to oncoming vehicles. That is why I didn't actually see the rollover itself, only the aftermath.

I did run to the truck to see if there was anything I could do.I did take a few photos just holding the camera out in front of me as I was running towards the truck. By the time I got there everyone was already doing things to assist the injured. I immediately stopped taking photos. I then headed back up course to assist in getting the next race vehicles coming thru stopped. Off duty EMT's, Firefighters, and LEO's jumped in and started doing eveything they could with what they had. They started yelling for people to bring what ever first-aid supplies they had with them to be used on the wounded. Total chaos, but somewhat organized at the same time as far as those taking care of the injured. Controlled Chaos?

The next few hours is a blur for me. I had quite a few friends that I was there to see and was going to be part of their chase crew once it got dark. I knew several of the had come to the Rock Pile from camp to see the action. I was worried where they were. Some of them came looking for me knowing that I was going there to shoot photos. Everyone I knew was o.k. I left the sceen for a while, then went back later and took more photos of the sceen. I was forcefully removed by law enforcement as I had left my official media credentials at home and they were only allowing those with them near the site. So I moved away from the sceen, got my long lens and took some photos of just the magnitude of the sceen. Emergency vehicles were everywhere. Helicopters were still landing. I lost track of how many came and went.

About 10:30 I had had just about all I could handle and left and headed home. When I got to Victorville I decided I would call the Associated Press and let them know I had photos of the event. They did an immediate phone interview with me and that is what showed up on the web all over the world. I also did a phone interview with CBS radio news while driving home. After that Good Morning America called me and asked if I could be on camera on their show Sunday morning live at 7:00am New York time. I agreed and ended up having to drive to LA to be on air at 4:00am my time. I did the the show and drove home. My phone never stopped ringing after that. I had more media outlets asking for information. I was also asked to be on NBC News Sunday night, on camera again, for the Sunday night national news. This time in Burbank. Back in the car to be there by 2:00pm. Did that show and back home again. Put some steaks on the grill, ate and finally got to bed 8:00pm. I had been up for 36 hours straight.

Monday morning, up again to Burbank for the MSNBC show for on camera inteview at 9:00am in Burbank again, with a on air phone interview at 7:30am while driving in the car.
My goal with the interviews was to provide accurate information and try to downplay the sensationalism I knew would be coming from the Media. I think I did well with the interviews and have been told so by those in the racing community that saw them. These races are my lively hood as well as my entertainment and I know that this incident will have lasting repercussions for years to come.


I'm off to the Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno race Wednesday for Time Trials at Primm, NV with the race on Friday starting north of Beatty, NV. I'm sure there will be many affected by this past weekend and I hope all goes well for these racers and everyone involved.

[cruiserlarry]

I'm sure I speak for everyone here at OAUSA when I say we are glad to see that you are, at least physically, OK.

After you have had some time to rest, and digest the events of the situation, I would love to hear you opinion of what transpired. Since you spend a lot of time at races similar to this one, I'm interested in your take on what might have been done to prevent or minimize the tragic results, or if you feel there needs to be anything done at all.

One thought passed to me by another race truck driver, is that there is an added consideration regarding the crowds that attend the night races: Many of the folks have been consuming alcohol while hanging out over the course of the day, and by race time, many attending fans are working with impaired judgment that might not be as apparent at a day race. Pure speculation, but interesting. Since you attend both day and night races, I'd like to hear your perspective on that idea as well.

Regardless, we are all glad to see you were able to leave the race unassisted, and I hope your interviews and photos help to improve the situations for future events. Thanks for sharing

[Matt2001TJ]

Being as how all the eco-nazi groups are already going after us as much as they can all this does is give them fuel for there fire. I have no doubts that this will be bad for other types of off roading as well as any annual events that happen on BLM land. Our club (Victor Valley 4 Wheelers) event "Fun in The Desert" in Johnson Valley is on BLM land as well and some of us are wondering about what kind of impact this could have on us.