Racing College Rider Injury / Health Care Links Directory

location: home > racing college > racing safety program
Introduction To Our Racing Safety Program
by Dr. Medsker

As you will learn when you take our safety awareness and counter measures program - safety involves every rider.  But more importantly, the safe and prudent operation of your motorcycle is your responsibility.  Learning to ride in a safe and prudent manor is not an option in today's market place of transportation but a requirement.  Creating habits and behaviors that automatically happen and occur, with hesitation, to avoid hazards or problems are the needed and necessary skill levels to employ.  With their application you lower the risk factor probabilities of becoming involved in unwanted and unnecessary problems.   

I am a Chiropractor who, for the past 18 years, has followed the raci41 circuit all over the USA and Europe. I have treated all degrees of riding and raci41 injuries. These same injures continue to repeat themselves, over and over again. This tells us that we are not learning from our mistakes. Why is that?

For these individuals I suggest that it's time to start "Racing Smarter".  I personally feel that taking care of the rider is more important than taking care of the bike. As an example if you spend 10 hours working on your bike for the race, I feel you should spend at least 10 hours readying your body for that same race, as well.

I have repeatedly witnessed that those riders who received Chiropractic care before raci41 not only performed better but also experience fewer accidents and injuries than those who do not.

In lieu of this fact, I created a section in the library called "Rider Problem". This "Self-Help" recipe program is for the understanding, treatment and rehabilitation for almost all of the injuries I have witnessed on the circuit. I have also created another section in the library called "Health Care". This is a self-help program set aside so that responsible riders can take, not only corrective actions but preventive ones, as well. I have found that most repeatable accidents and injuries can be prevented from happening, even for the first time if the rider is mindful of what he or she reads and applies. Both programs are located on the menu in our library. At least I feel that this is a start in the right direction for the concerned riders and their families.

In the final analysis, it is the rider's responsibility for his or her own safety. The best we can do is sharing this information with them and through education bettering ourselves, our raci41 families and our sport. I keep thinking that someone will come along and put a stop to all of those unnecessary repeatable accidents and injuries, but in my over 15 years of experience, no one has yet.

If you think that it is the responsibility of the AMA, FIM or other regulatory agencies, you are wrong. If you think that it is the responsibility of the promoters or track owners, again you are wrong. It is the responsibility of the riders, their families and their race team members. In short, it is the responsibility of all of us.

In 1997, at one time during the USA's Supercross 15 race series, over one half of the top 20 USA riders were out with injuries. Is this problem "Rider Error", "Track Design", "Racing Fatigue Over Stress", etc.? Again in 1998 Supercross series we are seeing the same types of problems surface again. Why are these problems repeating themselves? Why can't we learn from our mistakes? What could we do as a safety awareness group?


I strongly recommend that every country join in and together create a Motocross/Supercross Safety Board that would:

1. Publish a rider/racer safety manual.

2. Require all riders and racers to complete a comprehensive safety awareness and countermeasures certification program for off-road raci41 like the program currently presented by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) for street bikes and WERA and AHRMA for motorcycle road raci41.

3. Require a safety certification before any rider can be licensed to race.


Did you know that AMA motocross is one of the few raci41 organizations that does not require a safety awareness program to licensing the rider?

This safety board would gather and collect, evaluate and publish all raci41 accident and injury information (i.e. rider fall cards). It would compile unsafe track obstacles and establish safe jump launch and landing angles, then supply this information to insurance companies, regulatory agencies, promoters and riders and racers. It would require that all riders involved in raci41 show proof of passing a comprehensive safety awareness and countermeasures program examination before acquiring a license. And proof of annual up-dating certification for the same.

In aviation, the federal aviation agency (FAA) requires all commercial airline pilots to attend and pass a school like this, once a year. Command pilots are required to take and pass this schooling, twice a year.

Like the FAA's program, I know that we can lower our accident and injury percentages from over the 90% mark to well inside the 10% level with the incorporation of a yearly re-certification program.

I am saying we don't have to keep repeating this endless loop of needless re-occurring rider accident and injury. We can make a difference. We can change the outcomes. We can lower the accident and injury risk factors found in our sport. Together, we can make our sport a lot safer. If we join together, share information, educate our riders and racers, we will greatly lower their accident and injury percentages. For this reason, I am sharing my "Safety Awareness And Countermeasure Program", as well as, my two and four-year professional raci41 college programs with all riders, racers, their families, their race team members and those in the off-road community who feel as I do.

Our Safety Awareness And Countermeasure Program makes the most aggressive strides ever taken in the prevention and elimination of accidents and injuries in our profession. For the last three years of its existence, it has performed. Data collected shows that the awareness and skill levels taught in our program have reduced accidents and injuries by a conservative factor of 25 to 1 (only 4 instead of 100 after taking our safety class). That is to say, riders were falling, having accidents and getting hurt twenty five times more often before the program than following it. Its simplistic countermeasures are the best collection of rider assembled immediate actions anywhere in the world today.

We hope that you will enjoy and benefit greatly from its presentation, as well as, share it with your friends and other riders. Join us, and together we can make our sport safer. Thank you for taking the time to read our safety introduction. Enjoy our safety program, and help us make riding and raci41 off-road motorcycles safer. Next let's discuss how safety training will pay you rather than cost you.
Safety Training Pays!
This article was written in 1999.  And each year after this year this percentage of money spent to fix and repair your bike will increase.  Not to mention the increase in cost factor for any medical care needed or necessary.

Are You Interested In A $2000.00 Sponsorship This Year? Are you interested in having a little extra money this year to spend on your racing?  Moreover, if I told you an easy way to do this would you be interested?

But before I share with you this easy method let's finding out just how much money you have spent over the last year for new bike parts, raci41 gear, and medical services because of unwanted and unnecessary accidents, falls, and rider injuries.  Let us list the most common replacement parts due to accidents and falls. They include:

Bike Part - Est. Cost/Item to Replace – Number Per Year
1. Handle bars - Regular (7/8") - 85.00 & up - (13sets)
2. Handle bars - big (1 1/8") - 65.00   (2sets)
3. Handle bar grips - Regular - 7.00   (6 pair)
4. Front Fender -20.00 & up - (2 ea,)
5. Rear Fender - 20.00 -  (2 ea.)
6. Radiator - 130.00 - (2 ea.)
7. Radiator Shroud - 35.00 & up  (3 ea.)
8. Control level - 12.00 & up - (4 ea.)
9. Sub Frame -120.00 - (1 ea.)
10. Muffler - 80.00 - (1 ea.)
11. Pipe -150.00 - (1 ea.)
12. Seat Cover - 50.00 -  (1 ea.)
13. Seat Foam - 50.00 -  (1 ea.)

Cost Example:
From the above list let us calculate the estimated average cost per year from
the estimated average replacement per year column.

Bike Part - Est. Cost/Item to Replace – Number Per Year
1. $ 1105.00
2. $ 130
3. $ 42.00
4. $ 40.00
5. $ 40.00
6. $ 260.00
7. $ 105.00
8. $ 48.00
9. $ 120.00
10. $ 80.00
11. $ 150.00
12. $ 50.00
13. $ 50.00  
Total Cost Per Year $2220.00

Next, allow me to share with you that our safety program has already greatly lowered this yearly cost factor for many.  Over the last three years, our program has reduced accidents, falls, and rider injuries of a factor of 25:1. What this means is that for every 100 accidents, falls, or rider injuries you were having before our 2-day safety awareness and countermeasures program, would be reduced to four.  Yes, I know that these numbers are very impressive. However, another impressive factor about the program is that is saves you about $2000.00 every year afterwards? 

From the chart above, let us divide $2220.00 by the safety reduction factor of 25 and get $88.80.  The $88.80 is your new estimated yearly cost for replacement parts following the completion of our safety program.  This is an annual savings of $2000.00 every year.  If you race for 10 more years, your estimated savings is approximately $20,000.00. And remember these figures do not consider the replacement of raci41 gear, helmets, or medical expenses due to injuries.  Do you think you might be interested in a safety program now?

Safety is everyone's responsibility.  But until everyone starts thinking this way may I suggest that you consider taking the actions of "Protecting Yourself" and "Saving Yourself" by taking a safety program like ours that reduces your "Risk Factors". 

The safety program in the library of our motocross raci41 college web site is free to those who are interested.  It only requires you to study and practice its principals.  In the centerfold of this issue, you will find our raci41 college poster #7 "Racing Safety Awareness" and our recommended countermeasures. 

Now I can sit here and tell you that motocross accidents and rider injuries are on the rise especially over the past few years but you may think you are immune to them and so this topic does not effect you.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  Because it does affect you, whether you are a new comer to our sport or a veteran pro.
 
Remember - Racing Smarter Does Not Cost, It Pays!
Copyright - Medsker Racing College - All Rights Reserved - www.racingsmarter.com - 843-669-5794  contact us