How many local tracks are getting sued?

In Louisiana we have a "Limited Liability Corporation" whereas we can incorporate under LLC to protect personal assets. Lease the property (from yourself if you have to), keep the bank accounts to a minimum, and it is supposed to offer some good protection.
In two years of running a dragstrip we never had to test it (thank goodness), but I have had some smart people tell me that LLC is the way to go.
I had a kid threaten a lawsuit, but after the lawyer sniffed around he decided to look for easier prey.
If was kinda funny actually; this kid walked in front of a quad at the start line, the quad took off and ran over the kid. I had two witnesses lined up to testify that the kid was on LSD at the time. I am really glad that it never went anywhere.

It's like I always say---LSD, QUADS and dragstrips...bad thing.

LMAO! I think I just found my new sig line, if I may have a release from the author! ;)

things are getting bad in CA. we now have to buy this ISMA card, but no one knows who they are or if they are legit, its a complete mess.

maybe the kid should try and sue the drug dealer, LOL! i mean if he was drunk, he could have sued the liquor store, right?

My cousin is sueing the new Atco motocross track here in NJ because he was out practicing when something went wrong (he's still not sure) and he hit a berm went about 30 feet up in the air and about 10 ft out (he went straight up, but didn't get any distance) and he landed on a tractor with the rake on it and shattered his helmet and the right side of his face. He was fast too, some company just gave him a brand new all hooked up CR250 to race, he could have gone pro in a couple of years. He's alright now and I think he has a couple more surguries to go, but he can't ride again because if he goes down again, or something hits him in his head hard enough, it could kill him.

So its the tracks fault that he screwed up?? I wish people would step up and take responsibility for their own actions. Riding motocross is dangerous. If you can't accept the risks involved...keep off the track.

hey mooge, district5 is requiring birth certificates at race sign-up this year,arent they?...or is it jusy for the first few races? since u own a track, i figured u might know the scoop...i know sign-up is a painful experience already, so i don't think think the extra time it takes to flash a birth cert. will bother older riders.

BIg AIr MX in Newaygo, MI got sued, I think it's resolved though.

Psycho: if your cousin isn't sure what happened. how does he know the track was at fault?

Psycho I beg you to get your cousin to reconsider. There aren't tons of places to ride around here. And I've been to atco, if he signed the waiver he has no right to sue. Not that that means anything.

LMAO! I think I just found my new sig line, if I may have a release from the author!

Click to expand...

lol, it's yours big guy.

:thumb:

I think PD69 means the tractor was parked on the outside of the turn with the berm in question. His cousin hit the berm and flew through the air just enough to land on the rack that was hooked up to the tractor. Doesn't sound like the best place to park a tractor with riders on the track, but we do not know the whole story. Why didn't PD69 cousin ask for the tractor to be moved before hitting the track, or once he saw it parked there after the first lap of practice? Regardless the tractor didn't belong parked next to the track IMO. Is it lawsuit material? Not in my book, but my book reads diffrent then the rest of the worlds.

i would say that if the tractor was really parked that close to the track, the operator would know that that type of accident could likely occur and therefore he was negligent.

you can't sign away your rights.

I should have mentioned that to begin with, it was parked right next to the track because they just got done using it. None of the hay bails were set up yet and they said it was ok to go riding again.

What corner was it at atco? Hay bales,they don't use hay bales at atco?

Lawsuits will bring us the end of moto. There is no way that I would want to own a track with all the get rich quick, money sucking fools and irresponcible people out there.

Make sure that the person signing is really a parent/related...

Let me see now, in order to make our local track safer to ride, we'll need to move the scoring tower, all the trees, the flagging stations...and while were at it, better remove the starting gate before a rider trips and twists an ankle. Those big piles of dirt out there caused me to lose contact with the ground...very unsafe, better flatten them out. You know, it's not my fault if I ride to fast for my abilities, it the owners fault for building tracks that might require me to use some self control.

It would be one case if the tractor was on the track, but 10 feet off to the side is not unreasonable.

ya know, it really doesn't matter where the damn tractor was. if the kid felt that the track was unsafe, he shouldn't have been out there. now, if the track owner had run the kid over while driving the tractor,(which doesn't sound like that bad of an idea currently)that would be another story.

I don't know of any getting sued by riders, seems like the EPA is suing them out of business before ordinary people can sue them.

I know alot about this since had to sue a couple of years ago. What happened to me was "extraordinary and unforseeable" so please don't form a judgement about my character till you hear the basic facts.

I basically ran into a tractor on the downside of a tabletop ( a tall one where the downslope is blind ) when the track owner pulled the track while three of us were still riding on it. The tractor is about 9 feet tall and the table top is around 12 so it was completely blind and unexpected. No flagger, cones, warnings of any kind. You can imagine my suprise when I came over the tabletop.Luckily only a couple of broken legs/knees since I could have been killed. The track owner refused to apologize, admit any fault, or take any responsiblity for my financial situation since I could not work for 4 + months.

This was obviously a terrible mistake on the track owners part. I think the key here is taking responsiblily for you own actions, which the track owner did not want to do. Long story short - I won the suit but still have not seen a penny and the suit is getting close to the end of the appeal period soon.

Here are my suggestions to minimize you risks associated with owning a track.

1. the LLC is not a bad idea
2. A lawyer approved waiver - and make sure everyone signs it.
3. Make sure the track is secured ( locked and fenced) when it is not
open.
4. Have a list of rules for conduct, which participants must sign at least
once. Some good rules from a legal standpoint:
A. Use the exits and entrance to the track as such.
b. Always travel in the proper direction
c. No shortcutting the track or obstacles
d. No spectators on the track
e. no pit riding
f. Define all the mandatory riding gear
g.etc, etc - you get the idea - ----------
5. Buy some type of insurance
6. Never create an unforseeable or unknown danger to the riders ( as in
equipment near or pulled onto the track) A waiver will not hold up in
court. As said above - you can't sign all your rights away.
7. Never allow a riders vehicle onto the track, or your own equipment,
unless the track has been completely cleared by flaggers. A rider
may pull his truck out to get a downed bike, or a downed rider.
8. Have a way tell riders that the track is being cleared for watering,etc
with either a closed gate, intercomm system, flag system, etc. You
can't beat a closed entrance gate tho. - coupled with a good inte-
comm system.
9.Have some 2-way radios for you and your employees/helpers to
communicate, so that an accident does not happen due to poor
communication.
10. If someone is questionably a minor - have them show proof of age.
If they are a minor , take an ID of the guardian with a lisc. no. - so
you have proof of who it was that accompianed the minor.
11. Another thought - in the waiver or rules you could actually define all
the major hazards associated with riding the track. Such as - other
riders, track conditions, rocks, fences, track changes ( from one
week to another ), etc.

Sorry for the long response, and I know it all sounds a little overcautious. Some of this stuff I would have never even thought of before going to court, and most I consider common sense. But lawyers don't think like MX'ers - they don't care if it was fair, or common sense. They are just looking for loopholes in the law. But if you run a good track and follow some safety guidelines ( which I am sure you do ), the odds for a lawsuit decrease incredibly. :)

Correction to the above post - I meant to write that he pulled the tractor out onto the track while we were riding on it. One lap the tractor was not there, the next lap it was! If it wasn't for me on the ground on the left side of the table, and demolished bike off the the right, the next rider might have followed suit.