Please pass the word

[BigAl74]

My thoughts too Pat. We could have 5,000 of us out there riding smart, safe, and where we should be. Then 1 guy comes a long and messes it up for all of us, and they are the only one the ppl trying to kick us off the dunes will talk abould making it sound like we are all bad. Just like alchol on the sand. I never rode and drank, but I sure liked coming back after a long, hard ride and having a beer.
Date Posted: July 13, 2006, 10:49:01 AM
So did any of you lucky ones that went to dunefest learn any more about the fate of Banshee hill. Or for that mater any other part of the dunes.  I just hope I have some sand to ride on if I ever make it back over there.

[tolandinsurance]

It is probably the environmentalist out there themselves!

[Dune Dude]

Here is a copy of an AP article that ran in local papers:


WINCHESTER BAY, Ore. - Off-roading in the sand has long been a popular way to play on the Oregon Coast.


But it's certainly not the safest.

Ambulances responded to 52 accidents this year at the Umpqua Lighthouse entrance to the Dunes National Recreation Area, treating people for everything from broken legs to head traumas.

"When it's busy, there's always an accident out there, somebody getting hurt," Douglas County Parks Director Jim Dowd told The Register-Guard newspaper.

Now, a new rescue station is opening that authorities hope can get help to victims sooner, and even help prevent some injuries.

The 3,500-square-foot, $280,000 rescue station includes a classroom for teaching dunes rules and driver safety, as well as bays for storing law enforcement and other emergency vehicles.

Paid for with county funds and a $180,000 Oregon Parks and Recreation Department grant from gas taxes and all-terrain vehicle registration fees, the station will cut response times to the dunes in half, Douglas County sheriff's Sgt. Scott Fray said.

Fray said the county is also working on an arrangement with the Douglas County court system to allow people to have dune-related citations dismissed after paying to take a class at the rescue center.

---

Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com

 
 

[DandC Motorsports]

When they say it's not the safest I think of how many people get hurt every year in auto's or mtn climbing or or or.......  

[Sandflicker]

I must say the times I've been out there I learn new definitions of the word stupid everytime.

However, one thing I've always thought would be a good idea (yet know no one would do) is have all riders on the way out going one direction and return riders the other.    So you have to make a big circle and reduce the possibility of running into one another.

Well, that's just a thought.  You know we were at winchester one time and an older guy had a heart attack while moving slowly back towards the parking lot.  He just fell off.  Of course this is terrible, but I wonder if this is logged as an ATV accident.


JMO Sandflicker

[DuneJunkie]

Well, that's just a thought.  You know we were at winchester one time and an older guy had a heart attack while moving slowly back towards the parking lot.  He just fell off.  Of course this is terrible, but I wonder if this is logged as an ATV accident.

yep, it most likely was..............

[Dune Dude]

Another flaw in trying to understand ATV related injuries in data collection.  There is no standardized form that will capture information needed to evaluate the accident, injury and circumstances that caused the accident.  This is one item SAFETY RIDE wants to have the State implement.  This would give the needed data to really see what is the cause of ATV accidents and help us all come up will solutions to prevent, instead of just taking the ATV's away.

[Sandflicker]

Another flaw in trying to understand ATV related injuries in data collection.  There is no standardized form that will capture information needed to evaluate the accident, injury and circumstances that caused the accident.  This is one item SAFETY RIDE wants to have the State implement.  This would give the needed data to really see what is the cause of ATV accidents and help us all come up will solutions to prevent, instead of just taking the ATV's away.

I'd really like to see a real way to deal with these issues.  All the data I've seen so far is tainted - and there is no stop to the people that use bad stats as gospel.

[Dune Dude]

Statistics show that 50% of all statistics are false.
Statistics show that 50% of all statistics are true.
And I'm 100% confused.  But, only 30% of the time.

[Sandflicker]

Statistics show that 50% of all statistics are false.
Statistics show that 50% of all statistics are true.
And I'm 100% confused.  But, only 30% of the time.

   You have me soo beat - I'm totally confused - and I think that's what the other side is hoping for.  Their rebuttal will be "well if  you're not a doctor you're not going to understand"

Which is bull, but they way I've seen these guys handle common sense questions in the past.

I am 98.9 % sure that these guys are full of themselves !

[Joe Llamahead]

 One of our riding buddy's is an M.D. he takes turns working in the ER at Bay area Hospital.
 I asked him if he sees a lot of dunning accidents he said' yes unfortunetly there are quite a few, But it has been reduced nearly in half since the BLM no longer allows Alchool in the riding areas".


It's funny we pick up A LOT of Beer cans out in the sand out in horsefall , well not realy funny but y'all  know what I mean.

 I have heard by some of the dune patrol folks that windy bay is not BLM or all BLM  and therefore some or all of the riding areas allow alchool.

 Comon denominator??
 

[Dune Dude]

The farthest north area of the Umpqua Dunes, (Winchester  Bay) basically the area North of Banshee Hill, is County property.  However, this is Public Lands that are open to riding as part of the ORDNA.  The law is pretty specifc about no alcohol in the ORDNA not just the USFS.  If the land is private, that land owner can do what ever they want on their land.  But, if the private land has been open to public riding as part of the ORDNA, the no alcohol law would be in effect. 

It is a shame that you are still finding beer cans out in the dunes.  This is why we need more law enforcement to make a presence out in the riding areas.  I'm not saving pulling everyone over for no reason but, finding the knuckle heads that are ruining it for the rest of us.

[Sandflicker]

At least we haven't seen (yet) anybody painted up with a bomb belted to their waist sitting at the bottom of banchee hill.  I hope I don't give anybody any ideas.

[SANDDEMON]

The eco freaks can afford quads too. And don't think they wouldn't ride in the closed areas to further there agenda.
Many states have passed laws preventing this type of activity. just needs enforcing. Sabatoging a legal activity cant be tolerated, any where. And catching them on camera is a good deterent.