The recent coverage of the trial of the young man(I dont have the article and dont remember the names) on trial for being involved in an accident that killed another young man has really got me to thinking about what is cinsidered safe behavior in the mad world of off roading. The guy was out in the dunes jumping his pickup around. The other guy was out in the dunes driving his friends and family around. There are no laws or real rules governing what can and cannot be done in those places. It is just assumed that people will use common sense out there, but as we all know, common sense just isn't all that common, especially when people are doing inherently dangerous things.

Should the guy in the truck have had spotters before jumping the dune?..probably. Should the guy in the golf cart taken the time to look around before procceeding along the base of a blind hill?..probably. The fact is that neither of these people exercised very good judgement as they enjoyed a day of off road fun. Neither operator was under the influence of any drug or drink and neither was doing anything unusual for that setting. It just happened. When you are out in such an environment there is something called "assumed risk" which takes liability for damaged vehicles out of the equation. If you crash your vehicle, solo or into another, there is no liability or fault attatched because you have chosen to place your vehicle in that position. I think the same should apply to people except where being under the influence is concerned. You are taking a very big risk in hitting the dunes, especially on big holiday weekends. Many people have been killed in similar accidents but I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted unless drugs or alcohol was a factor.

Reading the article would lead you to believe that the driver of the picup was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing, which is incorrect, he was just doing without exercising the proper degree of safety. Had the driver of the cart been watching from the top of the dune, he would probably have thought the dune jumping truck was cool. The man on trial is, nost likely, distraught over the aciident and will never feel the same about having fun in the dunes if indeed he ever even ventures off road again and I promise you it has nothing to do with the trial. His remorse is almost a certainty, but the media(reporting only the victims side of the issue)would have us believe this man is a monster because he couldn't look the grieveing mother in the eye at sentencing, which is a place, in my opinion, he should never have been in the first place.

I have been racing and riding dirtbikes most of my life. I have seen friends and fellow races badly injured, and in a couple of cases killed in racing and riding accidents. Some involving others, some not, but we all understand the risk we are taking everytime we pop the clutch and head out into the desert, dunes or onto a track. The man in the cart may have only been going out for a cool cruise with others, but he should have realized that some folks out there are getting much more sewrious about their off road adventure. To some it about relaxing, to others it is about excitement and adreneline and each camp needs to be aware of the other. I sympathize with the grieveing family where their loss is concerned, but I also think it is wrong to accuse someone of manslaughter in such a situation.