Thursday, July 3, 2003 | 8:52 a.m.
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway was right to suspend its motocross events for young children in the wake of the death last week of a 5-year-old boy. The child was driving a small-engine motorcycle when he overshot a turn and crashed. The events should remain suspended until officials have had time to take a close look at what can be done to prevent future accidents.
Motocross is a nationwide sport enjoyed by children as young as 4. Unfortunately, motocross organizations do not keep accident statistics, so it's impossible to determine the extent of the sport's danger to young children. Still, we think there is good reason to question why children that young are allowed to participate. The speedway should check with other track managers to determine their experiences with children and to find out what safety measures they've installed. There should be no rush to reopen the track for motocross until this information has been obtained and discussed.
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