My son went to Gordones wells over the weekend and he saw two people get killed at the drags both were hit by V8 sandrails one on Sunday and one on Monday they both happened at the end of the drags where people are turning off one was a ten year old kid following his dad. Also he saw about ten near misses and one Rhino rollover where the guy lost one finger and had numerouse compound fractures on his left hand he grabbed the rollbar when he went over instead of holding on to the steering wheel. It is getting so crazy out there I'M second guessing even going any more. The last few times I have gone at least one person in my group has come very close to getting hurt bad from someone going to fast and not paying attention or just someone pulling out in front of you while going down the drags. Sure miss the good old days at the dunes.

 

That sucks. Last year a friend of ours almost got landed on in St. A's by a big rail. It is scary. They seem to think they are invincible which compared to a quad or a bike they do get a lot less hurt. When we were in Dumont there was a rail up on a ridge and me and Seth were going up a dune while Seth was on his way up the hill the rail started coming down the same dune we were on Seth was already almost to the top so he kept going the guy in the rail got mad and started throwing his arms up in the air. I saw him coming so I waited at the bottom and saw Seth and my youngest almost get hit by a rail. It was very scary. What I don't get is he must have never been on a quad before or he would know it is easier for him to stop going down hill than it is for Seth to stop going up hill. It was very scary and I hope it never happens again.

Everyone be careful out there and show respect for others no matter what you are in. Always be on the look out for the idiot or the drunk.

 

Old man rambling, but it used to be that anyone with a really high performance machine got there in stages and usually built it themselves. Now, anyone with a Equity line or recent "crop" sale can buy a very serious machine and there are no licenses or limitations on who can drive one. It really shows up at the big weekends at the So Cal dune areas. Personally, I won't even get close to Dumont, Glamis or Pismo on big weekends. Between the crazies with too much money and too little common sense to the cruds who leave trash everywhere. it is too much for this old guy. No offense intended to those that do go and have a good time in that environment, just not for me or my grandkids.

 

If I go anymore I am going to stay away from the busy weekends.

 

TP and Cardiac, I ABSOLUTELY AGREE!!! I now own one of those powerful rails and let me tell you, you can get into a LOT of trouble fast. Duning is one thing, but drags, blind jumping (jumping without a lookout), and just plain crazyness is going to shut each and every one of us down.
You are absolutely right, these sand cars are capable of so much and just about anyone can drive one. It's getting down right stupid. Can you imagine losing your son, daughter or wife? Or them losing you??? One of the biggest reasons I got out of the quad world was because the influx of the "BIGGER and BETTER". Hit another quad, you can get really hurt. Going up Comp at Dumont at 40 and running into another quad who's turned in front of you can be very bad... I've seen it. Go 40 up comp and get run over by an 80mph rail and you'll most likely die. I'm not talking about the old-school, beam cars... I'm talking about the 80k - 200k sand car that the drunk just paid for with his 3rd mortgage. He's the guy that has had quads for two years and thinks he can control a monster because he's now the fastest on 4. Doesn't work like that. In order to be safe, you need to be well versed in duning. You have to be a smarter than the average weekend drunk, and you have to respect more than just the feeling you get when you throw the peddle through the floor. Most of all you have to have some experience with rails prior to jumping in a state of the art long travel. I started out with a 130hp beam car that I had to drive just right or I'd get stuck.
I'm not calling for more rules, but something has to change. Maybe stiffer penalties for people who are morons. I frequent a lot of sand rail forums now, and many are just as fed up as the quad guys. As always, it takes a handful of morons to ruin it for everyone.

Now to the open ended drags... you are just ASKING for problems! I've seen guys roll, break in half, go end over end, quads get hit, passenger cars get hit etc. etc. You would never think about having this kind of event without barriers or restricted access of some kind. But in the dunes, its all open and available. Not sure what to do about it.... Crap, my car throws 340-ish to the rears (without pushing it) and is VERY fast, my buddy is thinking about a supercharged LS7 for 35K. It's supposed to put out 1000hp. This is in a car that came with 300 to the rears and was fast. When I asked him what he was going to do with all that HP, he really had no answer. He still won't keep up with me in the dunes and he knows it... and quite frankly, I don't think he cares.

 

I'm very much with you Cardiac. Last year (06) was my last trip to Dumont on the holiday weekends, and this past weekend at Glamis broke me of ever going there on a major weekend anymore. Used to be if you went down towards China Wall and South into the dunes that you could escape the crazies. Not anymore. 200,000 people converged into an area that small is just not safe. We saw so much carnage and mayhem that it was damn near unbeleivable. And we didn't even hit the sand drags.
So many weekends that don't involve holidays left on the calendar, those are for me...

 

DITTO, DITTO, DITTO!

Problem is also that Dumont used to be a little more relaxed. But people getting snubbed at glamis are now breaking into our digs. Getting worse by the month, or so it would seem.

 

I agree, I stopped going on major weekends years ago, or we go to mammothwash, the dunning aint the best but the kids love it and no one is ever there.

 

I couldn't agree more with you guy's. I have always prided my self in being crazey but these idiots out there are stupid plain and simple.I dune every other day now usealy @ around 5am on a weekday and some times no heck most times don't see anyone else. life is good in yuma AZ. FSC will be my first trip out on a holiday weekend all year.BA HUM BUG.....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

I have been going to Gordon's for 27 years and it has progressed into a free for all out there. For a while it seemed to taper off a bit and got better but now it's too much.

Now that I have a 1 year old I would love for him to enjoy the dunes like I did when I grew up, but when the off weekend crowds dwarf the old holiday crowds that's sayin somthing. Used to be a couple dozen camps and you maybe saw 20 people at the hills, now it's too much.

So I am with you all, no more holiday weekends there, off weekends only.

Sad to hear about somone losing their child, being a father that's the biggest fear I have, but quite frankly, he should have taken the child around the staging area....never, ever cross after the "finish line" it's not safe!!!


TPR