Boy killed at Monster Jam show

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
http://www.komonews.com/news/37765479.html

My wife just informed me our son is never going to one now.

This is actually the worst part:
"Witnesses said after the accident, people began leaving in droves but event organizers continued on with the show.

"It was kind of angering a lot of people that they didn't even stop the show," Mausten said.

Witnesses said some people in the crowd began throwing beer and glass containers at the truck from which the debris was believed to have come."
 
All of us at Feld Motor Sports are saddened by the accident that occurred last night at the Monster Jam show in Tacoma. ... Feld Motor Sports is looking into this tragic accident as the safety of all our customers is our top priority and this type of incident has never happened before in the history of Monster Jam events.
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The death was the latest tragedy in a string of accidents involving the massive trucks, which can weigh more than 9,000 pounds and feature tires more than five feet high. According to the Associated Press, truck accidents have killed five people and injured more than 40 between 1992 and 2007.

In 2007, a monster truck performing outside an Illinois auto-parts store crashed into a crowd and injured nine people.

In 2000, a Virginia woman won a $12.4 million lawsuit, after a truck accident crushed her arm. She and 12 other passengers had paid for a thrill ride in Grave Digger in 1998, when the massive vehicle flipped while doing doughnuts.

Fatalities from the 90s include: A man killed at an Illinois convention center by a souped-up Bronco; a teenager killed in 1997 by a truck that crashed through a fairgrounds fence in Idaho; and a man killed in 1994 by a monster truck that rammed through some rodeo hay bales in Oklahoma.
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Seems someone is telling tall tales.
 
^^^ well *technically* they've never had a piece of a driveshaft shoot out and hit somebody before....

As tragic as it is, this is at least a pretty freak random accident... I mean, in theory the same thing could happen to any of us on the trail w/ bystanders around.

I'm not sure how this could have been avoided, save permanently yanking that vehicle from the show when it had issues earlier.
 
RatLabGuy said:
My wife just informed me our son is never going to one now.
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Typical "knee jerk" reaction, just like all the folks that swore off air travel (again :rolleyes: ) after the USAir crash earlier this week.

Face it, everyone IS going to die! While I have no statistics or factual data, I'd wager you'd have better odds of being killed by an out-of-control Checker cab full of drunken, crack smokin' transvestite Slovakian midgets or allergic reaction to over-the-counter medications than either monster trucks or aircraft incidents...

:popcorn:
 
Leslie said:
Seems someone is telling tall tales.
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None of those other accidents was at a "monster jam" show.

I hate this happend, but there's an inherit danger to any type of motorsports event. Hell people have been killed at baseball games from foul balls. NOTHING is 100% safe.
 
Went last week to the Gboro show. Had a few rows of seats blocked at the bottom but still it looked like diseaster potential. I would worry about stuck throttle before a driveshaft. Sucks all the way around but they should have stopped the show, refund everyone. that part is classless
 
Some of you need to get a grip. They actually had reason to continue with the show.

1. 90% of the people there had no idea that there was the tragic accident, and the kid was not declared dead until he got to the hospital. Stopping the show with thousands of fans not realizing that there was an issue could cause a riotous situation.

2. The way that people access the stadium had the officials concerned that thousands of people leaving because of a canceled show would impede the EMS efforts to get to the two injured parties, and also get them out of the arena to the hospital. Have you ever tried to hurry through an upset crowd at a stadium?

3. It wasn't Monster Jam that decided to continue the show, it was the local police and EMS that thought it was in the best interest of the injured parties to avoid what was mentioned in points 1 and 2. All calls to end the show due to injury or danger at this venue are the burden of the local authorities, not the promoter.


Yes it is a heart breaking situation, but all of you have done exactly what the liberal media wants... you looked at half of the information and decided that the sport is too dangerous because of one freak accident, and that the wrong decisions were made after the incident. Next time try looking for all the information before making rash decisions. (not everyone did this, but I'm making a point so bear with me)

My heart goes out to the family of the boy, and to the man that had his jaw broken and lost several teeth . Life isn't fair or guarantied, and this was a terrible way to learn that lesson. But sometimes there isn't anyone to blame when bad things happen, sometimes it's just shitty luck.
 
D'Mann said:
Some of you need to get a grip. They actually had reason to continue with the show.

1. 90% of the people there had no idea that there was the tragic accident, and the kid was not declared dead until he got to the hospital. Stopping the show with thousands of fans not realizing that there was an issue could cause a riotous situation.

2. The way that people access the stadium had the officials concerned that thousands of people leaving because of a canceled show would impede the EMS efforts to get to the two injured parties, and also get them out of the arena to the hospital. Have you ever tried to hurry through an upset crowd at a stadium?

3. It wasn't Monster Jam that decided to continue the show, it was the local police and EMS that thought it was in the best interest of the injured parties to avoid what was mentioned in points 1 and 2. All calls to end the show due to injury or danger at this venue are the burden of the local authorities, not the promoter.


Yes it is a heart breaking situation, but all of you have done exactly what the liberal media wants... you looked at half of the information and decided that the sport is too dangerous because of one freak accident, and that the wrong decisions were made after the incident. Next time try looking for all the information before making rash decisions. (not everyone did this, but I'm making a point so bear with me)

My heart goes out to the family of the boy, and to the man that had his jaw broken and lost several teeth . Life isn't fair or guarantied, and this was a terrible way to learn that lesson. But sometimes there isn't anyone to blame when bad things happen, sometimes it's just shitty luck.
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Holly crap your avitar and sig is arrogant, wich makes me wounder about your short commings...But you are exactly right.
 
JThomas said:
Holly crap your avitar and sig is arrogant, wich makes me wounder about your short commings...But you are exactly right.
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Short comings? Everyone has them. And I am man enough to admit that I have plenty of them. But I'm not short on rational and try to use it in situations that can get hairy. Tends to keep me out of trouble, but makes me irritable when I see people throw it out the window and rush to judgment.

If you go to enough rodeos you'll know that sometimes the show must go on, even when someone gets thrown over the fence.
 
D'Mann said:
Some of you need to get a grip.
...
but all of you have done exactly what the liberal media wants... you looked at half of the information and decided that the sport is too dangerous because of one freak accident...
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WTF? Hold on a second there Sparky.

Please do me a favor and quote who in this thread actually said this. B/c I don't see a single one.

I posted this to point out the tragedy, knowing that the discussion of the "danger" would ensue, especially since it's brought up in the article. It's a safe bet that the general consensus around here is that, while tragic, this is a pretty freak accident. Note I used this same term already above.

Regarding "the appropriate actions", it sounds to me like you have some insider information. Sorry that we don't all have the kind of experience and access to this story you do. I was simply going by the information provided in the primary source here.
 
RatLabGuy said:
WTF? Hold on a second there Sparky.

Please do me a favor and quote who in this thread actually said this. B/c I don't see a single one.

I posted this to point out the tragedy, knowing that the discussion of the "danger" would ensue, especially since it's brought up in the article. It's a safe bet that the general consensus around here is that, while tragic, this is a pretty freak accident. Note I used this same term already above.

Regarding "the appropriate actions", it sounds to me like you have some insider information. Sorry that we don't all have the kind of experience and access to this story you do. I was simply going by the information provided in the primary source here.
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You are right about the dangerous part, other than you mentioning that your wife says that your boy will never go no one commented about the too dangerous in this thread. Just call it me stopping it before it got out of hand.
 
More children are seriously hurt or killed skateboarding than going to Monster Truck shows. But very few mothers take away their kid's skateboard after reading about such a death.
Accidents happen. It is not possible to protect our children from all possible risks.
I try to mitigate some of the risk of my son skateboarding by requiring him to wear a helmet and pads. And I wear pads when we are sparing to mitigate the risk of him kicking my but too hard.
 
I grew up racing motocross and then car racing. Ive had some broken and bruise bones. Anytime you enter a motorsport as a spectator or to compete anything is possible. We take our daughter every year to Monster Jam in Raleigh and Fayetteville and as long as she wants to go we will continue to go.

As a father of a six yr old little girl, my heart goes out to the family of that child and especially the father who was by her side.
Damn the horror just thinking about it is pretty bad.
 
rockmafia said:
The officials can cut the trucks off at anytime by remote if they get OC.
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You are right. I used to know a guy who owned his own REALLY small monster truck team. As an independant driver/owner, he used to tell me all the time about how the shows were often times "rigged" to keep the big name teams (Grave Digger, Big Foot, etc) winning and the little guy out. Conveniently, one of his last runs in the sport, he was going against one of the bigger teams for their final pass before the Freestyle section. He was basically neck and neck with his big name (and big budget) competitor.

On the last straight-away before the finish, one of the officials "accidentally" hit his remote kill switch blowing the top end clear out of the motor. Bad things happen with you kill an ignition at WOT. As an independant, he didn't just have another monster motor let alone a backup vehicle sitting on a trailer outside the arena. He was done for the night.
 
I was at an indy car race in Charlotte back in the 90's when a tire went into the crowd and decapitated a spectator. They shut it down pretty quick and refunded everyone's money. I think they probably should have shut down this event too, but its a tough call.
 
Since the introduction of Africanized bees in 1990 to the United States, 17 people have been killed due to the bees. It was put as an analogy to me, that you're more likely to be killed while playing golf in Florida in a rain storm by lightning than killer bees.
I'm not making light of this tragedy, because yes, it sucks. Although I agree with Bryan in him saying the media portraying it the way they did blew it out of proportion. It's a freak accident. It sucks. It happens.

No they should not have stopped the show, I'm firm on that belief. Did they cancel the hockey game when the girl was hit in the head and later died? No.

You take a risk going to a sporting event, especially ones "...which can weigh more than 9,000 pounds and feature tires more than five feet high..."

Call me a heartless bastard, I couldn't care less.
 
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