13-Year-Old Youngest to Die at Indy

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An accomplished 13-year-old motorcycle racer died Sunday after he fell off his bike and was run over by another motorcycle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The racer, Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was pronounced dead by the Marion County coroner, who said Lenz had sustained “traumatic injuries.” Lenz crashed on a warm-up lap before his race and was struck by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat, who was uninjured.

Medical workers immediately placed Lenz in a neck brace, put him on a stretcher and began chest compressions while taking him to a hospital. The coroner confirmed his death about three hours later. It was the first death of a competitor at the speedway since the IndyCar driver Tony Renna was killed in October 2003.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/sports/30indy.html

[XemaSab]

1. To which I ask

how accomplished can a 13-year old be?

Sad story. :(

[liberal N proud]

2. Racing is a dangerous sport

Should children be racing with experienced drivers?

[Fumesucker]

4. I suspect this was a race for younger racers..

And people who race motorcycles are called "riders" not drivers.

[happyslug]

6. Posted wrong place

No Text (N/T)

[DWilliamsamh]

10. Obviously this was a junior category...

The racing world is just like every other sporting/competitive activity, divided up by age groups and even ability levels (thus qualifying). Think of it this way just because your 12 year old is a center-fielder hitting .350, doesn't mean he's facing Roy Halladay.

This is a terrible tragedy for his family and my heart goes out to them.

[AngryOldDem]

12. It was.

Some kind of "training race" held before the main event.

The kid who hit him was 12, and it sounds like there was no way he could have avoided it.

Very, very sad.

[Fumesucker]

3. And yet the most dangerous sport in America today is...

Basketball..

RIP Peter Lenz.

Edited because I apparently didn't know what I was talking about originally.. :)

[happyslug]

7. Basketball does NOT make most top ten dangerous sports lists

On a list of sports with the most injuries and fatalities per participate, Motorcycle racing is #7 on this list, lawn bowl is #1:
http://www.sportingo.com/all-sports/a10042_ten-most-dangerous-sports-world
http://sasthamcotta.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/top-10-most-dangerous-sports-in-the-world/

As the site says itself, Lawn Bowl is the most deadliest for the simple reason people die of old age while playing it, for they are simply to old to play any other sport. Golf and fishing is high on the list for the same reason.

In 2002 Pole vaulting was the deadliest sport in the US:
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/03/12/Sports/The_deadliest_sport_i.shtml

This site calls Horse racing the deadliest sport:
http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/5342/the-science-of-america-s-deadliest-sport-part-1

This site seems to rely on actual death reports NOT people claiming a sport is dangerous and says the most dangerous sport is Fishing (do to high number of people falling into the water), "Base Jumping" and then Horse back riding (Tied in with horse racing which has a high rate on its own), then golf, Rock Climbing, Skydiving, boxing, Cave Diving and at #10 American Football:
http://www.helium.com/items/1909645-worlds-most-dangerous-sports
Golf is in the list for the high number of golfers hit by lighting in addition to high number of people who dies of heart attacks caused by just walking the course (Bing Crosby was such a "Victim" of Golf).

Please note the above is based on total number of people killed NOT total number per participate in the sport.

Cheer-leading is on most of the above list (and most dangerous for women). This is based on the tendency for cheerleaders to want to outdo other cheerleaders and that leads to them doing very dangerous and stupid stunts:
http://listverse.com/2009/06/18/top-10-incredibly-dangerous-sports/

In this report Kite Flying is called one of the most dangerous sports, do to the fact in Pakistan today (And I have read similar reports in regards to Japan 20 years ago) Kites have been seen with lines with glass shards. The purpose of the Glass is to cut other kites lines, but it also been known to cut bike tires and even people:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-worlds-most-dangerous-sports.htm

Just pointing out there is no one set of guidelines as to danger and sports, but some are worse then others, While Basketball has a lot of injuries, it is also played by a lot of people and very few people die playing Basketball, thus it is on NONE of the above lists, but Motorcycle racing in on at least one of them.

What seems to be the best study points out the following (This is from deaths in sports from 1945=1979 AND funded by boxing to show Boxing was NOT the most dangerous sport):
Sport----------Deaths per year---Participants per year---Rate per 1,000 participants
Horse racing-----------23---------------1,800-------------------12.8
Sport parachuting----370--------------30,000-------------------12.3
Hang gliding----------169--------------30,000--------------------5.6
Mountaineering-------308--------------60,000--------------------5.1
Scuba diving-------1,100-----------1,000,000--------------------1.1
Motorcycle racing-----77--------------15,000--------------------0.7
College football--------11--------------40,000--------------------0.3
Boxing----------------10--------------78,000--------------------0.13
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20070504&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=105040008&SectionCat=&Template=printart

What is amazing is that College Football is used NOT Football. That seems to be an effort to keep out the pros (With a much lower rate of deaths) and High School (Which has a much HIGHER rate of deaths based on other, unconfirmed, reports I have read).

[Fumesucker]

9. Basketball has the most ER admissions..

http://www.livescience.com/health/060614_sport_injuries.html

Edited to add: Keep in mind that "dangerous" and "deadly" are not synonymous, your list(s) are apparently of the most deadly sports.

Tonino used data from the U.S. Consumer Produce Safety Commission on injuries treated in emergency rooms.

The Top 15:

Basketball: 512,213
Bicycling: 485,669
Football: 418,260
Soccer: 174,686
Baseball: 155,898
Skateboards: 112,544
Trampolines: 108,029
Softball: 106,884
Swimming/Diving: 82,354
Horseback riding: 73,576
Weightlifting: 65,716
Volleyball: 52,091
Golf: 47,360
Roller skating: 35,003
Wrestling: 33,734

[whoneedstickets]

13. That's a whole lot of badly twisted ankles...

I'd guess that 3/4 of basketball injuries are ankle or knee related. I went to the ER once for a severe sprain (near dislocation) of my ankle playing street hoops. Limped for several months. A buddy tore an MCL. He had to undergo PT. Jumping in close quarters is dangerous.

[Fumesucker]

14. Without access to medicine a twisted or broken ankle can cripple you for life..

Which strikes me as being pretty "dangerous"..

[activa8tr]

23. How many basketball players in the USA don't have access to medical

care?

I think you could argue that a lot of street style pick-up outdoor games in the cities could involve kids without ability to pay for medical care, but few go uncared for.

And as for HS and college games, and the pro's... I think 99% of them get medical care when they need it.

[Fumesucker]

28. You don't get the full services like physical therapy at the ER..

There are tens of millions of Americans who lack medical insurance and tens of millions more that cannot afford to use the insurance they already have.

I severely broke my leg in 1977, although I got it set I never got the first moment of physical therapy and it took me over five years to fully recover use of my leg.

I sweated out my daughter's HS soccer career, knowing full well if she was injured that our insurance would not cover all the expenses.

Your faith in the US medical delivery system is touchingly naive, go into just about any convenience store where I live and you'll find a jar for donations to someone who cannot afford a medical procedure.

[Arugula Latte]

15. Broken fingers, too.

x(

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Using sheer numbers of ER-treated injuries is not a good way to make a comparative judgment

when participation rates can vary so wildly. Many more people play basketball than participate in weightlifting for example and that alone could explain the difference in the number of ER visits. However, without a good estimate of how many participate in each sport and some estimation of the frequency of participation it's pretty hard to claim that either is more dangerous than the other.

[activa8tr]

25. Very true. Most guys and gals growing up and many adult guys

play basketball.

Not so for racing bikes or race cars.

[winsecure]

11. big error in that chart

The chart you pasted in is off my a order of magnitude for Sport parachuting. 30-37 deaths per year is a much closer number. It appears there's a fair number of media articles that have quoted that same chart out of the 1984 boxing study. I don't know if the original study had wrong numbers (how did it make through a peer review process), or if the first news article quoted it incorrectly and all the other news articles copied that.

[happyslug]

30. I suspect part of the problem is the date period 1945-1979

370 may be the average for those years, with high numbers in the first few years do to use of ex-GI WWII parachutes in the post war era. It may also include COMBAT Jumps, the last set of Combat jumps was in Vietnam (Except for Special Forces). Generally combat deaths are NOT considered into sports, but given the high use of paratroopers during WWII and a tendency to maintain such troops since WWII, 370 may be the average if such practice jumps are included (And if combat jumps are included that can include deaths from other causes, like being shot while in combat).

Remember, people are killed while boxing in the Service and this included in the number of boxing deaths. The other sports, if done in the service, would also be in the numbers for that sports. Sky Jumping is not only a sport that the military does, but also a way to get troops into combat situations. Thus it is possible that Military deaths as a parachutist is included in the Sky Diving statistics. That would inflate these figures.

Please note the above is pure speculation, I did do a quick search but could not find anything else on the above study.

[flvegan]

5. 9 national titles in 6 years time?

Incredible. Condolences to his family and friends.

[FMBM]

8. I don't know...

speaking as the father of two boys... I sympathize with the parents... they didn't dream it would end like this... the worse thing is a death of a child...

[Arugula Latte]

17. If they didn't dream it could end like this, they should have.

Of course they knew they were letting their kid put himself in severe danger of death or maiming by allowing him to race. (He'd suffered serious injuries with several broken bones last year after a fall.) I have a 13-year-old son and I can't imagine allowing him to race motorcycles. It's like these idiot parents who let their kids race ATVs up sand dunes and then wonder why their kid got paralyzed when the thing flipped back over on him/her. It's true you can't prevent every injury or accident, but by allowing your child to race motorcycles at incredibly high speeds you are pretty much abdicating your role as protector of your child, IMO. There has to be some common sense and some sense of what is crossing the line to insanity to allow a kid to do.

[activa8tr]

26. I think a lot like you do. Even tho I don't have a kid that age, I would..

never let a kid I know compete in a motor sport of ANY type at that age.

Size, stamina, judgement, maturity, skill All rather lacking at that age in the average kid.

How about letting them grow up by learning and NOT competing?

As for ATV vehicles, jet ski's, snowmobiles. Those things should just be illegal in my view, too much waste of petroleum, too much destruction of natural environment, water, land wild animal habitat. (I'm sure I'll be flamed for that opinion, but it's mine.)

[sylveste]

32. why blame anyone

how about parents who let their kids go swimming, are they also idiots? lots of kids die in the water evey year. why does blame have to be placed? he probably dreamed of racing superbikes or moto gp and he died chasing that dream. life can be cruel and dangerous but that's not a reason to hide from it.

[LisaL]

35. He is a minor, a child, who might not fully appreciate consequences

of his actions. Maybe there is a reason that we don't allow 13 year olds to get driving licenses.

[LisaL]

36. The child had just recently recovered from serious injuries

which included broken bones.

[NoodleyAppendage]

16. What's wrong with just playing baseball, frisbee or something less dangerous?

When I was 13 years old, I would have loved to ride dirt bikes or motorcycles but my parents were smart enough to realize that neither my brain (judgment) nor body (reflexes) were able to handle such a dangerous device. I blame the parents in this case. Young children do NOT need to participate in motor sports. They aren't going to die if they can't ride a motorcycle, but they certainly have a possibility of dying if they do. No brainer.

J

[Lightning Count]

18. Should 13 year olds not be allowed to snow ski or water ski?

Similar speeds and plenty of danger.

[tinrobot]

20. Not nearly as dangerous

Falling on snow or hitting water hardly compares to hitting blacktop and getting run over by a motorcycle.

[Lightning Count]

22. Ever hit a tree on a downhill slope with minimal control?

Or fallen into the water and run over by a boat with props? Both have an ouch factor.

[Xithras]

24. I hit a tree skiing when I was 14. Was hit TWICE by cars skateboarding at 16.

Lots of sports are dangerous, and many are potentially lethal. Hitting that tree knocked me out cold. Those car collisions broke six ribs, fractured a vertabrae, and damaged my right knee so badly that it's still a problem 20 years later.

A kid I went to high school with was killed on the football field when he hit the ground badly in a tackle and snapped his neck. A girl my daughter used to play soccer with was paralyzed last year in an accident when practicing for her high school synchronized dive team (her partner landed on her in the water). About a decade ago, a high school kid at a local track meet dropped dead of heart failure in the middle of a competititon.

It happens. Most youth sports occasionally have to deal with the freak injury or death of a competitor, because all sports have a certain danger level. Physical competition is inhertently dangerous, and while modern safety equipment and rules may minimize a great deal of that risk, some of it does remain.

The real question is this: How many kids have been seriously injured or killed in the sport, compared against the number of kids who participate in it? If child fatalities were common in youth motorcycle racing, I'm sure we'd have heard about it before.

[LisaL]

34. This particular child had just recently recovered from

serious injuries, including broken bones, and now he is dead.

[Hawkowl]

31. Dude you are mistaken

Hitting snow or water at speed is the SAME as hitting blacktop. Not to minimize the danger of motorcycles.

[friendly_iconoclast]

21. Children and teenagers can get killed or severely injured playing baseball, too.

High school football is dangerous as well. Not saying safety precations shouldn't be followed, but you can't
wrap the little snowflakes in cotton wool, either.

[Kolesar]

27. We were *not allowed* on motorcycles or snowmobiles when we were children

Even a broken wrist is more trouble than parents need to deal with.

[Codeine]

37. Every motorsports professional starts out young.

Ask a European rally driver when they started racing on the back roads of Finland. It takes years of practice and repetition to build the reflexes and muscle memory needed to compete at the top level.

A 13 year old is quite capable of racing a dirt bike, small racing bike, go-cart, or ATV. It happens every weekend across the country and serious injury is rare.

[Odin2005]

29. Quick, ban all sports!

:sarcasm:

[heliarc]

33. I had a high school student of mine die the same way

On Christmas day...5 years ago. He was hit by a dune buggy while taking a jump on a motocross track... His name was Kyle.

Rest in Peace Kyle. We miss you.

[depakid]

38. Time for some parent to go for the record at 12

and then 11.

We could even start beauty pageants sexualizing girls at 6.

Oh wait....

[theHandpuppet]

39. The biggest problem in my area is little kids, unsupervised, on ATVs

Tantamount to child endangerment, IMHO. What kind of parental idiots allow little kids to tear across fields and roads on full-size ATVs, unsupervised and often without so much as a helmet?