Be careful out on those trails - AMA article

[dirtdame]

There was an article in this month's (08/07) American Motorcyclist magazine about people booby-trapping legal offroad trails so I thought I'd pass it on - be careful out there!

Spikes, wires and other booby traps on the trail

Compiled by Bill Kresnak

 For decades, motorcyclists who ride off-road have gotten used to being the target of government agencies that continue to shut down public lands.


But recently, we’ve seen a rash of cases in which motorcyclists are literally coming under attack, just for riding their bikes legally.

From New York to California, booby traps are turning up on motorcycle and ATV trails. And we’re not talking about pranks here—these are spikes and trip wires meant to seriously injure or even kill.

In Arizona, a 73-year-old man strung heavy cables across a legal trail in the San Francisco Peaks area of the Coconino National Forest in an alleged attempt to injure dirt riders. Rider Steve Winchester hit one of the cables at low speed, narrowly avoiding serious injury.

After being contacted by police, Winchester decided to press charges against the man accused of stringing the cable, J.D. Protiva. Police said Protiva also chopped down trees to block the trail and built dirt mounds designed to stop trail riders.

He was indicted on six felony charges, including aggravated assault and endangerment, illegal logging and construction in the forest. But as the result of a plea agreement in June, Protiva was placed on probation for one year and was banned from the Coconino National Forest. He also was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay up to $3,000 in restitution.

In New York, a grand jury has indicted Michael Fagner of Savannah on a misdemeanor charge of second-degree reckless endangering for allegedly stringing a wire across a trail designated for use by motorcycle and ATV riders. Fagner also allegedly placed boards containing spikes on the trail.

One of the people he apparently targeted was a town justice, who uses the trail regularly with friends. Fagner reportedly told police he booby-trapped the trail because he didn’t want anyone using it.

The extreme danger of these attacks is shown in two recent cases in California. In the first, David Elven was injured when he hit a rope strung across the road by his friend, Ross Frazee. Frazee was sentenced to a 60-day jail term in a plea agreement.

Meanwhile, Robert Barnes suffered massive neck and head injuries after Donna Olsen and Donald Bryant strung a rope across a road leading to Barnes’ home. Olsen has been sentenced to five years in prison, while Bryant’s sentencing was delayed while his lawyer prepared a motion for a new trial.

Booby traps aimed at dirt riders aren’t just a U.S. problem, either. In Australia, someone hid spikes and tied wires between trees on a trail used by little kids on dirtbikes and ATVs. A young girl was riding her small ATV on the trail when her mom spotted some of the booby traps and stopped her.

“You can replace a tire but you can’t replace a lung,” the girl’s mom told the Australian press. “All she has to do is fall on top of a nail. I can’t believe there are people out there who would do this.”

And in Hungary, officials discovered parachute cord stretched across trails at neck level to hurt dirt riders.

“Trail riders have been under assault for years as more and more legal riding areas are shut down,” notes Royce Wood, AMA legislative affairs specialist. “But we’ve entered a new and very dangerous phase when intolerant individuals execute vigilante attacks on riders legally using the trails that remain open.”



 
 




 
 

[SIF]

thank you for making us aware of this

[Phantom]

Just read that in my American Motorcyclist last night.

Happened to me when I was 15... someone strung a nylon rope across a trail. I saw it and luckily I was on a small bike (SL70) and ducked. The rope caught the side of my face and hooked the helmet on the side wher the strap ataches(we didn't have full face helmets back then) and ripped me off the bike. I looked like I had gone a round with Ali, fat lip and a few scratches but nothing major.

[GreatWhiteHunter]

Barbed wire, steel cable, buried 2x4's with nails and logs. Each time I saw whatever it was at the last second and either avoided it or ran over/through it with little issue.

That's what I've found across different trails since owning my first ATV when I was 16. 22 years of riding trails and I think of that first incident with the barbed wire every time I swing a leg over a machine. d

I've had friends and heard of folks that weren't so lucky. This isn't anything new and it really sux that people think that this is can be a valid solution to whatever issue they have with us.

[himiler]

........would love to catch 'em in the act................tie'em to the bumper and drag 'em through there own barb wire and spikes

[Snotime]

I had a guy string a piece of barb wire across a sled trail we rode years back on Christmas Eve. I had just ridden through there an hour earlier and when I came back through, there it was. Luckily it was at an entrance to a road so I was coming to a stop. It did end up catching me in the opening to my helmet and cut my nose. Could of been alot worse.