Monster Trucks

[genuinegirly]

When I was a kid, I thought monster trucks were pretty neat - I would set up lines of my hot wheels and ramps for my brother to hop with his remote-controlled monster truck. All of that excitement wore off at about age 10. I'm not sure I could get interested in them now - the rallies seem like nothing more than a bunch of noise and silliness.

Still, my childhood affinity for monster trucks drew me into reading the following article. It would have been my dream to attend such an event at age 6 - and for a child to be killed at the event in Tacoma - his poor father.

link to full article: http://www.komonews.com/news/37765479.html

TACOMA, Wash. - A 6-year-old boy was killed and a man was hurt after they were hit by flying chunks of metal while watching a monster truck rally at the Tacoma Dome on Friday night, officials confirmed.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner identified the boy as Sabastian Hizey of Puyallup.

The gruesome accident happened just after 10 p.m. Friday during the Monster Jam, when an apparent mechanical malfunction in a truck's driveline, under the cab, caused metal fragments to spew out toward the crowd amid a burst of sparks.

Witnesses said the red truck was driving in circles, and a spray of metal pieces came off of the truck and flew over a safety barrier. The pieces knocked the man off of his feet and hit the boy in the head, causing them to bleed and creating a rather gruesome scene.

"It was just a horrendous scene," said witness Gabe Mausten. "It was very disturbing scene."

After the boy was hit, witnesses said a man in shock rose up from his seat and began yelling, "My kid is dead! My kid is dead!" The boy's father was not injured.

The boy and the injured man were treated at the scene and taken to an area hospital by ambulance, fire officials said. The boy later was declared dead by the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.

Witnesses said after the accident, people began leaving in droves but event organizers continued on with the show.

What is your take on the incident? Or on these events in general. Have you been to a monster truck rally?

At first glance, I thought this was a freak accident, but as I read that the vehicle was taken out earlier for repairs, it makes me think that the mechanics could have been more thorough with repairs.

[BadNick]

That's very sad...I can't even imagine how sorrowful it would be to lose a child.

But a lot of things involve a risk, some more risk than others. Sadly, this is one of the times when the risk became a reality and ended in tragedy.

I don't know if this one was caused by an exploding clutch, but that is a possibility and it happens quite often when pushing huge horsepower through a clutch in a violent manner. There have been numerous injuries and deaths attributed to exploding clutch/flywheel assemblies over the many years I've been interested in motorsports.

[special_k_77]

I have never been to a Monster Jam but being that I have a lifted truck myself this is a very very tragic accident when you deal with extreme stress on metal it can have extremly(sp) violent results, but no intent was meant, no one set out to hurt anyone I am willing to bet that the driver and crew chief of the truck feel worse than almost anyone, they were there for sport and a competition and ended up taking the life of a child by accident, and now they will have to live with that for the rest of their lives. No one will feel worse than the father of the child but I can imagine the driver and crew feel a close second

[laconic1]

Honestly monster trucks are about the only form of motorsport I don't feel comfortable spectating in person. That and school bus races. The trucks are so big and heavy, and with the extreme stresses placed on them from flying through the air and hard landings part breakage is inevitable. Plus in an effort to "fill the clock" during freestyle events to score maximum point drivers keep going with trucks that are in many cases badly damaged. On a lot of the telecasts of the monster trucks that I have watched a driver do doughnuts to help fill the clock with a truck that is otherwise undriveable. For example a wheel will break off on a landing so the truck really can't be jumped anymore. One of the reasons I would not attend a monster truck event at a stadium is the lack of safety barriers. Usually it seems the barriers consist of placing tarps over the first 10-15 rows of seats to keep people out and create some distance from the field. No catch fencing that I have ever seen. At least when they have monster trucks at a racetrack the race track usually has pretty good catch fences installed.

To answer one of the questions in the original post, no I have never been to a monster truck rally, but I have seen monster trucks in person. The local race track was having an exhibition on a Sunday, and when I was at the track on Saturday for the normal car racing program I got a chance to check out some of the trucks that were there getting ready for the exhibition. The only big name truck there was Jimmy Creten's Bounty Hunter. The workmanship and quality on that truck was very evident. Every piece was top notch. The other trucks were rickety at best. Just one more reason I wouldn't feel comfortable attending one.

[Bill O'Rights]

Actually, I was just at at one 8 days ago. My 6 year old is fascinated by monster trucks, so I took him to Monster Jam. Although I never felt in any danger, laconic1 is very correct in that the only safety barrier is that the first ten rows are tarped off. I don't think that the arena was ventilated well enough, however. My eyes were burning and I felt a little light headed when we left. One of the disadvantages of indoor motor sports in the midwest during the winter. In any event, it's not something that I'll follow. I went...we had fun...and that's that. I have no real desire to see another.