Prior to the recent accident at a sanctioned race in the Mojave Desert in which eight spectators were killed and many injured, most people were completely unaware that desert racing is a thriving sport in the US. No doubt some stunned political appointee at the Bureau of Land Management in Washington D.C. came into work Monday morning and asked an underling incredulously, “You mean to tell me that we actually give permits for this type of thing?”
To that I answer, “Yes! Isn’t it fantastic?”
Desert racing is an exciting, family-oriented sport full of adventure, camaraderie, and personal challenge. It also happens to be relatively dangerous, and we live in a society which has achieved such a high degree of safety in almost every regard that it is hard for many people to fathom that there are still venues in which someone can put themselves at risk, protected only by their own judgment – and it’s all perfectly legal! This is a truly novel concept for many people in this day and age.
Sadly, errors in judgment sometimes cause loss of life. But that is the nature of freedom. Freedom is dangerous. All of those who died that night in the desert were adults engaged in a voluntary activity, subject to no constraints but their own tolerance for risk. That is the essence of freedom. It can indeed be dangerous. And that’s okay.
But just how dangerous is desert racing? There are over 30 races held in the US each year. These races have been going on for decades, meaning there have been many hundreds of such races in the US. Certainly there would have been many catastrophic accidents over the years if having a large number of spectators encroaching on the course was normal at these events. But at races in the US it is not normal to have hundreds of spectators crowded so closely around a jump or other terrain feature. This accident was an aberration, but based on a ten second video clip people unfamiliar with desert racing hastily reached the incorrect conclusion that these events are disorganized, uncontrolled affairs. The fact that all the spectators in the video chose to ignore the written rule that they should remain no less than 100 feet from the course receives little attention.
Because of the media’s ignorance about desert racing, coverage of the story quickly devolved into accusations that desert racing is a “Mad Max” enterprise, demeaning not just the sport but the people who participate in it. A story on ABC news referred to desert racing as “Extreme Racing”. Is desert racing really any more extreme than other forms of motorized racing? Air racing is pretty extreme, as is going around an oval asphalt track at 200 MPH or drag racing a boat. But when you’re trying to support the narrative that desert racing is the pastime of renegades on the fringe of civilized society, the “extreme” label is a handy way to marginalize it.
Dozens of people are killed in national parks each year. People fall off cliffs, drown in rafting accidents, die of hypothermia, die of heat exhaustion, or get smothered in avalanches. Some even get killed because they get too close to wildlife. There are no barricades keeping people from walking right up to a bison, elk, or bear. People are admonished to stay at least 25 yards from bison, but there are videos on the National Park Service’s website showing people at Yellowstone getting attacked by bison because they didn’t observe the 25 yard rule. At Zion National Park at least a dozen people have died from falls at Angel’s Landing and Emerald Pools. Despite this, there is no talk in Washington of erecting wildlife barriers or shutting off access to dangerous places at national parks, nor should there be.
So why has the Bureau of Land Management left open the possibility that desert racing might be eliminated from public lands entirely? Because the political appointees in Washington are politicians, and politicians always put the pursuit of power above principle. Thus, the completely sensible principle that people should be allowed to take risks if they so choose takes a backseat to political expediency. Nobody in Washington gets rewarded for taking a stand on principle. As a result, we may see an exhilarating sport unfairly cast into the trash heap. If that comes to pass it will be yet another sad day for personal freedom in our country, and a horrific accident will become an American tragedy.