Five-Year-Old Dead Kids Sort Of Defines X-Treme Sports

MayorBob.

Posted to Sport on Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 11:23:00 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

Cory Fidler's life is over almost before it began.  The five-year-old preschooler from Kannapolis, North Carolina died as a result of a freak accident during a Motocross race at Parker Valley Motorsports Park in Cleveland County.  No, it wasn't a case of a motorbike going out of control and striking Fidler in the crowd of on-lookers.  As it turns out, Fidler was one of the contestants, struck by a 12-year-old competing on the same track.  The accident has the park operator expressing his sorrow about what happened at the same time Fidler's parents openly blame the park for failing to "take precautions."  It has people from the Motocross world defending the sport as "no more dangerous than any other sport your children could be involved in."  Finally, it has North Carolina legislators looking into whether some age limits ought to be set for what has become a hugely popular sport.

Motocross involves driving motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, or dirtbikes around enclosed, off-road tracks.  The sport, fueled by prominent PR from shows like ESPN's "X-Games" is experiencing a popularity boom in the US.  Recognizing a market when they spot one, people wanting to sell stuff have latched onto the sport with a vengeance.  All of which brings us to young Cory Fidler.

Cory's father Wade was a fan of the sport and introduced Cory to it at an early age.  By the time Cory was three, he had his own motorized dirt bike.  Cory had just begun competing in motos himself right before the accident.  Cory didn't ride an ATV or a large motorbike - his bike was a smaller (50cc engine) bike.  But on the track at Parker Valley the same day Cory was riding his bike were some larger (85cc engine) bikes.  It was one of those bikes which hit Cory at about 50 miles per hour.  Michelle Fidler, who was videotaping her son said the Fidlers had warned Parker Valley officials about the larger bikes on the track, but the track operators, JMX Racing, didn't do anything about it.  According to Mrs. Fidler, "this may have been an accident, but it could have been prevented."  JMX Racing has made no public statement other than a posting of sympathy to the family on its web site along with the information that Cory was "attended to immediately by the on-site EMT."

All of this has caught the attention of State Senator William Purcell (D - Laurinburg) who authored a piece of legislation two years ago which affected Motocross events in North Carolina.  That law bans anyone younger than eight years of age from operating an ATV.  Purcell said that there were few concerns over motorized dirt bike safety then but "it's probably something we need to look at."  Another North Carolina politician, State Representative Cary Allred (R- Alamance) thinks the government ought to butt out of the whole thing, allowing people to use "their common sense" to dictate what they allow kids to do.  Allred also happens to own a Honda motorcycle dealership.  Cody was not prohibited from driving his bike on the track at Parker Valley; the law only forbids kids under the age of 16 from driving on public roads - not on tracks.

Motocross events are organized and sponsored in the US by the American Motorcycle Association (AMA).  It has grown from a sport with 180,000 participants in events in 1990 to one where 500,000 participants competed in 2003.  The AMA allows riders as young as four years of age to compete in the Youth Division.  Noting a rise in motorbike related pediatric injuries, the American Pediatric Association suggests perhaps more can be done safety-wise in this sport.