When Going to the Extreme and Beyond Turns Deadly

By Jeffry L’H. Tank

If I offered you $50 to jump off a 15 foot embankment and you broke your leg, would you blame me? Now what if I made the same offer to your son or daughter only instead of money I offered him/her a moment of fame by video-taping it? What if I made your loved one an offer to video-tape their motorcycle stunts for inclusion in a film claiming I had a desire to show that stunt riding on the street was a valid sport deserving greater respect and your son or daughter were to die or be seriously injured in the process? Would the fact that they had signed a disclaimer or waiver of responsibility make their death or injuries more acceptable to you? Would you not still hold me in some way responsible, be it legally or morally? If the roles were reversed I know how I’d feel, regardless of any waiver or disclaimer.

In the past months several incidents occurred that got me to thinking about this whole street stunt riding craze. These incidents cumulated in the death of a young man in MD while being filmed by a local production company called Holding It Big.

The first was a show I was watching about motorcycling in which a group of motorcycle riders were being interviewed about the sport. Specifically it was about sport bike riding and performing the stunts that have become so popular recently, especially with the younger, 20 something crowd. Stunts that have become all the rage with a small minority of sport bike riders due, in large part, to the availability of the high-performance machines on the market today. In the interview several of the riders talked about the thrill of performing various stunts such as wheelies, stoppies and standing on the seat while in motion, the faster the rate of travel, the better. At first the bikers discussed performing these stunts in various shows and exhibitions but then went on to discuss street riding and the greater thrill and challenge of performing these stunts with the additional dangers of the open road. They felt that pot-holes, traffic congestion and pedestrian “hazards” added to the challenge and increased the thrill. Then one interviewee made the statement that he couldn’t understand why they would get traffic citations from local LEO’s for performing on the street when these same officers had seemed to enjoy watching their performance at a recent show! I for one don’t think that they couldn’t understand the difference, they were simply looking for a justification for being angry at getting caught, a way to shift the blame and ignore the fact that performing on the street showed a total disregard for their personal safety and the safety of those around them at the time. In other words, a cop-out. It was at that point that I changed the channel, as I didn’t believe for one minute they were really that dense.

The next bit of stupid behavior was a video short I saw on the net showing another young sport-bike rider who decided to pull a wheelie with a young woman riding passenger on his machine. Yes, you read me right, stupid, there just isn’t any other word that fits for pulling this kind of stunt on the street, especially with a passenger. Unfortunately she was apparently unprepared for the stunt and as the front wheel came up she slid off the back of the machine as it was traveling some 30 or so miles an hour. Needless to say since she was wearing nothing but a tank top and jeans she suffered extensive skin abrasions on both her arms and legs as well as several areas on her back. Another sport-bike site soon featured pictures of her on one of the threads, and while she seemed to take great care to put on the appearance that she was somehow “proud” of her injuries, I suspect that whenever she lies down or moves she is in a good deal of pain and the “pride” exhibited in the photographs of her is just for show. That in itself bothers me, the fact that any young person would think that there is some glory in injuries sustained while involved in an activity that is performed without thought or consideration for the dangers involved and without taking any precautions to minimize the risks of injury or worse. For lack of a better word, that too, is just plain stupid.

The third event is one that happened right here in our neck of the woods. A young man, who according to the news report had less than a years riding experience, answered an ad in a local paper for people to perform motorcycle stunts on the street while being filmed for an upcoming production. Unfortunately in this case it lead to a very tragic end, the rider was killed while popping a wheelie at a speed in excess of 80 MPH. Here again the rider was wearing no protective gear, was inexperienced and performing the stunt under the worst possible conditions. It seems he lost control after lifting the front wheel and crashed into the back of a parked truck and was killed instantly. The producer of the video apparently erased that section of tape and charges may be brought against him for the destruction of evidence. The video was reportedly being made because in the view of the producer “a good documentary will change the perspective on reality” on stunt riding, specifically ones performed on public roadways. But I wonder whose reality he thinks he’s going to affect and how is it going to be a change for the better as far as street stunts or riding in general is concerned?

I don’t doubt the parents of the young man who died are rather upset with the producer and it would not surprise me if they bring some civil suit against him. I, for one, think they would be well within their rights. Even the father of the person responsible for the filming does not seem to support his son, given that he refuses to involve himself in any interviews or discussions of the incident. So my question is; who is to blame and where does the responsibility or more properly, responsibilities (plural), lie for such occurrences? Should we blame just the young man’s, or woman’s, own foolishness, or are there other factors to consider?

If the producer in the last incident had any brains (though that is questionable in my mind) he had the young man riding the sport bike sign some sort of disclaimer or waiver, yet does that relieve him of ALL responsibility in the young man’s death? As a promoter, does he not share some of the responsibilities for the actions of others under his direction or sphere of influence? In my mind he does. Not only is he partly culpable, but if he was honestly interested in promoting the sport for other than his own gain, why did he allow the young man to ride without proper gear and in the proper environment, and why accept his offer to ride without knowing the mans abilities; that is, if he was truly interested in promoting the sport of stunt riding as his web site would have you believe. And if he feels no responsibility, why then did he erase that section of tape?

And I’ll go one step further and question if the manufacturer of the machine does not have some culpability as well. How? Well, take a look at the machines being offered, machines capable of speed in excess of 160 miles per hour, pumping out 140 and more horsepower, sporting a design that says in every sense of styling, go fast, no, go faster, no, go even faster!

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating banning sport bikes, or any other kind for that matter, there are plenty of responsible owners of all brands and styles that it wouldn’t be fair or even justifiable to ban them simply because of a few bad apples, but I’m not talking about a ban. What I am taking about is seeing the manufacturer’s taking a more responsible approach to the sale and promotion of those machines.

How many times have I seen ads that play up the speed and power aspect of these machines, then print some tiny message at the bottom stating that you should not exceed the speed limit nor should you try any of the actions promoted in the ad. Car companies do it too, I recently saw an ad for a car where the main selling point was the fact it could go 150 miles an hour, then stated in the fine print at the bottom of the ad that you shouldn’t exceed the legal speed limit! In that case, why sell it where the legal speed limit is never greater than 70 or 75? I’m not saying we should limit all vehicles to a top speed of 75, but building them for the street that can go well over 150 seems to me just inviting this sort of behavior. Nonetheless, who do they think they’re fooling here; does simply printing some tiny message relieve them of any responsibility? To me, showing a machine whipping around corners at a high rate of speed, while printing a warning not do to do the very thing the machine is designed and sold to do is simply being two-faced and shows that the only concern of the manufacturer is to cover themselves by adhering to the letter of the law. But what about the spirit of the law? Shouldn’t that be of equal concern? Simply adhering to the letter of law while ignoring its intent does not excuse their behavior any more than someone who promotes stunt riding on the street, for money, glory, or fame or because it somehow proves your manhood! Give me a break!

There is no way you can convince me that the manufacturers don’t know their market and know full well the riders that many of those machines attract are young, often first time owners, with little if any riding experience and are therefore in one of the groups most likely to have an accident. Nor are they unaware of how those machines are being used, or that young men, especially, are susceptible to the go fast, “look at me” image at that time of life, if anything a good marketer is counting on that susceptibility. So in my view showing a sense of responsibility by the manufacturers, and even sales companies, would be in expending some greater effort to better educate their clientele, and I don’t mean printing the warnings in slightly larger typeface, either. I mean something truly substantial say, including a MSF motorcycle training class as part of the sales of new machines.

Another thing that would help is stiffer laws and licensing regulations. Look at countries in Europe where motorcycles have been an acceptable form of transportation for much longer than in the US. Some countries require a slow stepping up from class to class, based on engine displacement, over a period of years, maybe we could learn something from that and decrease the death/injury/accident rate in the US for motorcyclists. Of course such actions first take a willingness to admit that there is something wrong with the present system and a fair and honest appraisal of the current laws, not lawmakers going off half cocked at each new incident reported in the media. How likely is that? Not very, if you ask me.

As for all the sites like the one promoting filming street stunts, even going so far as to recruit riders, such as the one in MD, or web sites and forum’s that have entire areas dedicated to discussing/promoting how to perform street stunts, are they culpable? When they promote unsafe or illegal activities, yes. No amount of disclaimers can validate their promotion or involvement such activities on the public roads. While I respect their freedoms of speech or any other rights guaranteed under our constitution, that doesn’t mean they have the right to involve or encourage others to participate in such activities.

So what can those of us who are concerned about their involvement in such activities do about it and what actions can we take? There are several actions we can take that may have an impact. One such action is to boycott their sites, and more importantly, let them know why. Remember a boycott doesn’t do much good if the boycotted entity doesn’t know it’s being boycotted. Another thing we can do when we see groups or individuals involved in promoting street stunts and claim an affiliation corporate sponsorship, check it out, inform the sponsor of the actions of the site or group in question. For instance when I saw the claim that Pepsi was a sponsor of the site involved in the video taping of the young man in MD who died, I contacted Pepsi and told them about his street stunt promotion activities then emailed the site owner and told him that I had done so, an email that was returned as being undeliverable, (not too surprising considering the flood of nasty-grams he probably had been receiving right after the incident). Interesting enough, Pepsi informed me that they had never officially endorsed him or his site and that action was pending to have him remove any such claims from his material, which as of this writing has in fact been removed. The loss of sponsorship, or having to deal with a suit arising from false claims such sponsorship, or the loss of a legitimate sponsorship night well result in the loss of business or otherwise have a negative impact on the entity in question.

So to wrap up, if you want to do it (stunt riding), do so professionally, or at least with the right gear, in a properly controlled environment and with proper training. I enjoy a good stunt show as much as anyone else when performed under such conditions, but it is not appropriate on the street where it can involve and endanger others who have no desire to be involved and that’s where I draw the line. My other point is that I see this sort of occurrence as something that can’t be blamed on any one person or entity, there are just too many factors that come into play when dealing with the prevalence of the “extreme” sports bike street stunts craze seen today. Media too, has played a decidedly active role with movies glorify stunt riding on public roads or negative reports about bikers that mislead the public into thinking such accordance’s are the norm (what a surprise, right?). When you throw that into the mix along with everything else, the unfortunate results can sometimes be deadly and certainly can cause needless suffering, not to mention having yet another negative impact on the motorcyclist’s image. All of us who don’t condone such shenanigans on our public roads can only hope that some day the pendulum will swing the other way, and that the biker image, training and licensing will catch up with reality.

© Jeffry L’H. Tank

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