An 11-year-old Tracy boy was killed in a motorcycle accident at
the Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area on Saturday
– the first death at the track in its 21-year history, according
to the park’s district superintendent.
An 11-year-old Tracy boy was killed in a motorcycle accident at the Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area on Saturday – the first death at the track in its 21-year history, according to the park’s district superintendent.
The boy was participating in a practice run on his dirt bike when he collided with another rider after going up a jump and losing control of his bike on the Grand Prix track around noon, said District Superintendent Dan Dungy.
“It was truly an accident,” Dungy said. “And a tragic one at that.”
Although the boy was immediately attended to by about eight emergency medical technicians he was pronounced dead at the scene. Technicians from different agencies including Emergency Medical Technicians, State Park Rangers, American Medical Response and CALSTAR attempted to revive him, Dungy said.
An autopsy was completed Monday morning and the cause of death was determined to be a ruptured heart and ruptured aorta, said San Benito County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Green. He also suffered a broken back.
The boy was wearing all the required safety gear, with a full helmet, protective gear covering his shoulders and knees and a thin plastic chest plate, Green said.
“It would protect from branches, but not from any kind of impact,” Green said. “It was either height or speed to get these types of injuries – it requires a lot of kinetic energy.”
There is no indication of wrongdoing, but the case will continue to be investigated, Dungy said.
The track is located off Cienega Road in the Gabilan Mountains. Along with dirt bike racing, the thousands of acres give recreation activities for motorcyclists, 4-wheelers, picnickers and campers.
During the practice runs the riders are grouped by size of bike, Dungy said. The boy had been riding for approximately 18 months and was riding a small XR85 Honda.
Because the smaller bikes are usually ridden by the younger riders, grouping them helps to keep the larger bikes ridden by older and more experienced riders away from the beginners, Dungy said.
But some of the riders riding smaller-sized bikes have been riding for years and others are beginners, Dungy said.
“Accidents vary – it’s like anything at the skate park or snowboarding – that’s why we really stress safe riding,” Dungy said. “For people to stay in shape, know their skill level and know when they’re getting fatigued… No amount of safety precautions could have stopped this.”
When the riders accelerate up a jump, there is a person with a flag, called a flagger, standing at the top to call attention to other riders if an accident occurs.
If a flag is raised it warns riders coming up a jump, who cannot see over the other side, that they need to slow down or alter their course.
“There were three (flaggers) in the immediate area, but it had absolutely nothing to do with flagging,” Dungy said. “There could have been 100 flaggers and it wouldn’t have mattered.”
The weekend’s race and practice runs were sponsored by Mutant Motorsports, a Tracy-based motorcycle company.
Hollister Hills doesn’t require the sponsors to have an ambulance on the scene, but there were first aid units and one ambulance on location anyhow, said Johnny Chavez, Mutant’s owner.
“We take all safety precautions possible,” Chavez said. “We’re all pretty traumatized by this whole thing. He lived in Tracy, we’re in Tracy, my son went to school with him.”
Chavez said he hasn’t made a decision whether his company will continue to sponsor events at Hollister Hills or not.
Monterey resident Bob Barry was at the track Saturday with his sons who were participating in the practice run.
He said two other accidents occurred that day, one involving his son. Barry said while safety precautions are taken at the track, they can be improved.
“In this form of racing there’s always going to be that inherent risk… of people falling down and getting cut and scraped and maybe a few broken bones,” Barry said. “Fortunately kids are very resilient, but when kids start dying you’ve got to take a different approach to it.”
The boy was practicing for a competitive race the next day. To honor his memory, Sunday’s race was canceled.
