I don't need the internet to tell me motocross is dangerous lol 4 broken collarbones and Christy figures she should maybe lose the neck brace. First ride out without and she brakes her neck! And then there's Jimmy... Lots of dynamics for sure. Definitely would not blame the tracks.
YIKES! That's some pretty terrible luck.
It's all been argued until we are all blue in the face. More capable bikes lead to; higher speeds and more challenging tracks leads to; more crashes leads to; more injuries. The more injuries, the more debate on whats safe and what isn't, what protective gear...bla bla bla.
Point is, you are all right. We could ALL (and by we I mean track owners, riders, moto-based companies) change one thing or another that MIGHT make the sport a little safer in some way. But how many people actually take ownership or accountability in things like this? The worst part to me is the lack of responsibility on the rider's part. When I whiskey throttled into the cement wall at Ram Jam and broke my back, did I say their track setup was at fault? No, it was me, I should have pulled off because I had arm pump and not tried to do "just one more lap". At the end of the day it is always you, you chose the sport, you chose to swing your leg over that bike, and by doing so you have accepted ALL possible outcomes.
It's the nature of the sport. NQ1965 nailed a big portion of it too, big business. Do you think it was safe for Travis Pastrana to race a 500CC TWO STROKE in straight rhythm? Not a chance!! He almost wadded numerous times, but guess what, all that publicity and hype brought in lots of $$$ for the promoter.
On a side note, after watching On Any Sunday the other day, those guys were crazier than we are! The speeds of the flat track or motocross bikes with open face helmets made from materials that offered little to ZERO compression dampening during a crash, boots that were hardly anything more than construction boots. Motocross pants? Nope...glorified jeans. Neck brace? Never heard of it. Knee braces? What are you 90 years old?
Those guys would b*tch slap 99% the kids on the line today whining about the track prep. Personally I don't want this sport to become NASCAR, it's already hard enough for a privateer to make a night show, but that time that they do, I could imagine there is no sweeter feeling than that. That's the great thing about moto, there is still that chance of the grassroots no name joe that can pull a holeshot in the main and get some spotlight for a brief minute. You start enforcing safety rules and equipment standards and kiss the "underdog" stories goodbye.