Time to curb California's deadly off-road races?

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last updated 8 January 2015

A tragic accident during an off-road race in California's Mojave Desert has left eight people dead and 12 others injured, prompting calls for the sport to be better regulated or shut down. During Saturday's "California 200" rally, driver Brett Sloppy lost control of his 3,500-pound modified truck and crashed into a crowd of onlookers. The race took place on a site owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management, but officials at the agency have disclaimed any responsibility for the deaths. "The feds have allowed a Mad Max atmosphere to develop" at these races, says environmentalist Kieran Suckling, quoted in the L.A. Times. "You can't put these huge crowds together with fast and powerful machines and not expect these kinds of accidents." Our sport may not survive this dreadful accident, says Wayne Nosala, a regional director of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, quoted in The New York Times. But if it does, we promise these events will be "more tightly managed." Watch an AP report about the crash below: