Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

official photographer sin ce th e Asso cia t io n cam e: in to being. Diane Connolly wa s unde rstand ab ly shocked at th e news of th e sui t. She had spoken wit h th e in surance co m pany lawy ers in fu ll at th e ti me of the acci de n t, t u rn in g o ver na m es of witnesses , e tc. and n o w, al m o st a year lat e r t o the day , here co m es t he suit. Unfort u na t ely for us a ll t here are t oo m an y la wy ers w ho fa ll in to the ca tego ry o f amb ulan ce c hase rs. If t he y just smell a chance o f m o n ey co mi ng fro m an insurance co mpa ny th ey 'll go a ft er it an d o ft en with n o fee t o t he pl aintiff unless the su it is won. So y o u kn o w th ey have their ey e o n a go od th in g when they see it. People th emselves are su e happy. Perhap s it 's my upbringing, b u t lawsuits were o n ly un dert ak en as the very last resort and cert a inly not undertaken if the incident w as in any way partly your fault , but not any more. In this case, th ere 's a good chance that the Burtons will not lose the suit, but at today's legal fees we're talking about an easy $3000 to $4000 just to prove your point, and once papers have been filed you have to answer that suit. You can't handle a million dollar suit by yourself so even if yo u're lu cky enough to have a decent lawyer you're off to a bad start financial ly . The other evening I t alked at length with Dot Fortune, who with her husband Tom owns Elsinore. Dot was right there when it hap p ened along with other friends who are no t just casual observers to our sc rambles scene. They are offering their services to the Burtons immediately in whatever witness capacity they can. We also kicked around what can be done to help prevent things like this from happening again. .Gerry Burton is already doing this himself and the Fortunes have been doing it but not so strictly. And that is, keep people out of the infield unless they have specific reasons for being there with their cameras. That means a proper press pass and an assignment to cover that race lor a specific puhlication. I know that will make it hard on parents who want to take a snap of their little hotshoe but in the light of this, the line is going to have to be drawn somewhere. Each press person should sign a release. When the suit was made known that Sunday, riders immediately came trotting up to ask me how they could help along with some personal observations on the whole incident. One gal, with all due respect to being injured, isn't exactly on top of the popularity poll! If you want to help, here 's how. If you were at that event and saw what happened, please get in touch with the Burtons, Does anyone have any photographs? Someone did speak to Grace the day of the Dinosaur run and said they had a photo of the accident but she was so upset that she forgot to make proper contact with that person, so if you read this, please come forward . If you do get chased off a comer at a track from now on, try not to get mad. Just understand why. It will make it harder for us pros, too as we will have to contend with screams fro m unhappy fr ee-lance people, but with proper credentials they 'll be allowed, I'm sure. This is th e first bi g lawsuit our sport has had under this type of situation and now one person has done it , unfortunately others with less imagination will ge t ideas and try the same thing. So let's do all we can to see it won't happen again , or if it does, that the person involved gets their lumps too. My extra bit of advice to people involved with races. If a person re fuses to leave an area where they are not allowed, just simply stop the racing until they do. If t hat doesn 't work, there are alw ays enough able bodied males around to do some esc ort duty . . . out to t he gate and off the premises ! Maureen Lee We need your comments'-USFS The Nor thern California Nat ional Forests (Tahoe, Plumas, Lassen , Mod oc, Klamath , Six Rivers, Sh ast a-Trinity, and Men do cin o ) are gathering dat a for developing Of f-r oad Veh icle Plans. We need yo ur commen ts to help us in prepar ing th ese pl an s. Informat ion th at would be useful to us is : I. What are the conce rn s of organized groups relat ive t o th e use of Off-R o ad Ve hicles on National Fores t lands in No rt he rn California ? (This question ne eds t o be a nswe red on a broad basi s a n d sh ould n ' t rel ate t o specific areas.) 2. How can ORV u se be continued in a m anner that will reduce res ource dam age j n so m e areas, and eliminate res ource damage in hi ghly fr agile areas? 3. How can the adoption of effective ORV regul ations proceed efficiently re co gn izing that : The job needs to be co m p le te b y December 31, 19 76. "The job covers eight National Forests - wh ich include 39 Ranger Districts for a to tal 10,169,1 84 acr es. 4 . What method can be used to best keep st atewide ORV organizations fu lly informed? 5. In what form would you, like to see the regulations prepared [i.e, maps o f areas with regulations, booklets, pamphlets, e tc., with individual Forest plans or collective plans? The Forests will develop individual proposals during the co ming months. They will consider such factors as noise, safety, potential impacts on soil, water, air, vegetation, fish and wildlife habitat, and existing or proposed recreational uses. Alternative Forest proposals will be presented to you and the public for review. Based on this final plans will be developed by December, 1976. Please direct your comments or questions regarding specific areas to the following Forest Supervisors in writing: Forest Supervisor Klamath NF 1215 South Main Yreka, CA 96097 Forest Supervisor Modoc NF P.O. Box 611 Alturas, CA 96101 Forest Supervisor Six Rivers NF 710 "E" Street Eureka, CA 95501 Forest Supervisor Lassen NF 707 Nevada Street Susanville, CA 96103 Forest Supervisor Plumas NF . 159 Lawrence Street Quincy, CA 95971 Forest Supervisor Tahoe NF Highway 49 & Coyote Street Nevada City, CA 95959 Forest Supervisor Mendocino N F 420 E. Laurel Street Willows, CA 95986 Forest Supervisor Attn : Lou Pr ice Shasta-Trinity NF 1615, Continental St. Redd ing, CA 96001 T he ORV Coordinator is Elliott Graham , Mendocino National Forest , 420 E. Laurel Street, Willows , California 959 8 8. Comments will be accepted until June I , 1975. • • • DEPT. SUB. P.O. BOX 4 98 LONG BEACH, CALIFORNI A 90 80 1 CYCLE NEWS WEST (1 yr.' CYCLE NEWS WEST (2 Yrs.) . CYCLE NEWS WEST (3 yrs.) 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