A state law requiring persons under 18 to wear a crash helmet while riding an all-terrain vehicle on public lands was signed into law Tuesday and takes effect Nov. 1.

Good on them. I like that they made it under 18. Let stupid people kill themselves off, but take away the ability to make that stupid decision for their kids.

Reminds me of an old article I wrote, about 2004.

Ok, one of my favorite hobbies os offroading. Jeep/Truck, ATV, dirt bike, sandrail, whatever. Love it, live it.

Now, out this way, there is a section of the Pawnee Grasslands that opens only in the winter due to fire hazard. It is a fairly big event because it is an excellent riding area. A huge arroyo cuts across the grassland, making a natural motocross style are that covers a very large area. Hooray, it opened this weekend!!

The problem is the stupid people. There are a few in every sport... in this sport it is the dummys that hollow out their pipe to make it louder. (Popular myth that noise equals power. Quite the opposite, the best power pipes are quite low key) They also are the ones ripping around with no protective gear, showing no consideration for other riders.

Well, the local news showed up to do an interest story on the area, and it's turnout. All was well, dozens of bikes and quads riding, having fun, and being considerate to each other.

And then the stupid people manage to arrive. A big old puckup pulling a fifth wheel flatbead with 8 quads on it pulls up. Bubba and his crew get out, and we know trouble has arrived as they fire them up to unload. Loud! Every single one of them is running straight pipes on the 4strokes, and hollowed noisemakers on the 2 strokers.
They park ACROSS!!! the only road in or out of the staging area, so they can unload straight into the riding area, rather than the staging area. They have to be told by a passing park ranger to move it to a parking area, all of which are very deep to accomodate long trucks and trailers.

Now they unload, and I watch an 8 year old girl, no helmet or gear whatsoever climb aboard a Banshee and rip off into the pit. The rest of the group all line up across the entrance to the riding area, and decide that the only way into and out of the riding pit is the best place to start having drag races. After nearly wiping out a family of young riders trying to enter the pit, the ranger again has to make them play nice.

The news crew is glued to Bubba Stupid and crew, BTW. The dozens of people riding nice are not likely to cause the blood and gore footage that newscrews like. They recognize a disaster with a lit fuse when they see it.

And then.. little girl on the Banshee loses control and becomes mincemeat. Right in view of the cameras, of course. She is hauled away on an ambulance... Bubba and crew hold one more drag race before loading up to follow! This time they actually collide with a man trying to enter the pit. No injuries, but Bubba decides that it is the guy's fault, and that a good beatdown is in order to tech him a lesson. How dare he enter the pit the only possible way he can????

In front of the camera again.

And, once they leave..... they dump all their garbage out of the trailer/truck onto the ground before driving off.

Out of many many people enjoying the fun, a small bunch of bad apples work hard to ruin it for all. Thanks a lot, Bubba Stupid and family.

As an ATV rider, I think that they should make everybody wear a helmet. Not just the kids.

Killing themselves off is one thing, but when they don't quite die...Who pays for the millions in medical care that those veggies are going to need? ME.

I managed a broken collarbone and a concussion a couple of years ago screwing around in my back yard. Not going fast or doing anything stupid, just crashed wrong. If I had been without helmet, it probably would have killed me.

Yeah...I am not very popular with my opinions among other riders.

And Dark Jedi is right...There's always the 1 percenters that show up and make a boondoggle out of what should be a good time.

My family has always been one to ride, cycles, ATV's, Buggies, Rock Crawlers and Monster trucks. We buy them and build them up, and they are fast and furious, but they are always ridden in a safe and cautious manner.

Thankfully, we have never succumbed to an accident. Kev did roll over a dune buggy once, but thanks to his H harness as well as his helmet, he escaped with no injuries to himself or the buggy. And he was the only one on the track.

I, however, was in the process of filming it on video, and saw it up close and personal, and left the video running while I ran to him. Not so nice footage after the roll over but my boyheads like what I am saying. They were holding me back by the mud pit until they got him unhooked and when I saw him walk out of the dust, I, promptly, passed out, right in the MUD PIT!

Everyone received quite a show from Team Spivey that day!

Both of the boys went on to win 1st and 2nd places that day! Kev rolled it over the finish line to get 2nd.

We always ride on private lands. I would not even try to ride in a public entity where children were allowed to ride.

I have a Grizzly that I ride around. We have highly charged Jet Skis and we always keep them out of the areas where people are.

But....we always run into the Bubba's and Co.

They are the ones tanked up on beer and then try to out-do everyone else.

We do not allow children to ride in the areas in which we ride in, however, the Bubba's always manage to act like children.

But, after they are tanked up for the day and then get in their NEW street trucks to show us what they can do through the mudpit in the creek, they are a lot of fun to tape. They always get their rigs stuck or even roll over or blow everything they have and have to be towed out to a jeering crowd. They don't like it but they always return.


Those that try to take the family car or van through the mud are very comical. I don't know why they think they can make it. By the time the real trucks built for it, run through the creek and make it to the other side, we always have someone that wants to top them. Never works. Once, a mini-van actually tried to go through. We have him rolling the family wagon over onto it's side and sinking into the mud hole.

It is rather pretty comical to have a grown man climb out onto the side of a vehicle or the cab/hood and stand there while the crowd jeers. They are always frustrated and highly angry. We leave those there until they calm down enough to get them off the vehicle to hook the tow rope up to their own rig. Funny, as they bail off of their ride into what they think is a shallow hole, only to sink up severalmany feet in mud and goo! DUH!

I have seen men with kids in their vehicles that rock crawl or mud bog. That is just plain stupid! They don't have them helmeted only harnessed. On one tape you can view a little girl with her daddy in his rock crawler and her arm is often seen dangling from it. The harnesses are not constructed for children and a roll over or flip over would propel her straight out of it!

We saw an elderly man in an enclosed jeep that rolled over severalmany times and when they got him out an 8 year old kid was riding shotgun!

Thankfully, we have never encompassed an injury or death while enjoying our sports.

My son, who drives a Semi, sees horrible accidents everyday of his life while out on the roads. He is an EMT, also, and he is often the first responder. More times than not, there is not anything that can be done. Fortunately, he has not been involved in any accidents, but he keeps telling me that he just knows that he is gonna get one of those 16 year olds that pull out onto the highways, everyday.

We always take above and beyond cautions with our rigs. And we can only offer up a prayer for those that do not.

Ride Safe.

KAS, you need to get those videos on youtube.