More dangerous than football. Motocross is deadliest sport for kids
- snitzoid
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
This is pretty messed up. Suggest you click the link below to read the full story. Meanwhile, I provided some metrics below. BTW, I never race with a helmet. I find it too confining.
Injury Rates
Motocross:
Studies suggest that 5-10% of children competing in certified motocross events sustain injuries requiring medical evaluation
Overall injury rate of 94.5 per 1,000 participants in European competitions
Almost half the patients with motocross injuries require operative intervention
Traditional Youth Sports (per 1,000 athlete exposures):
Football: 3.96 injuries, Girls' soccer: 2.65, Boys' wrestling: 2.36 PubMed Central
Overall high school sports rate: 2.29 per 1,000 AEs American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
High school sports generally experience about 5 injuries per 1,000 athlete-exposures
The injury rates aren't directly comparable due to different measurement methods, but motocross clearly has much higher rates of serious injuries requiring surgery compared to traditional sports.
Fatality Rates
Motocross:
At least 158 deaths of children and teens on dirt bikes and motocross tracks since 2000, averaging more than 6 deaths per year.
The fatality rate is seven times that of tackle football Newser
Nineteen victims were age 10 or younger Newser
Key Differences
Motocross stands out dramatically from traditional youth sports:
Severity: 69% of pediatric motocross athletes suffered orthopedic injuries including 32 fractures and 2 dislocations among just 35 injured athletes.
Age factor: Children as young as 3 years have participated competitively in motocross
Protective equipment limitations: Serious injuries occur despite regulations requiring protective gear for all competitors and horsepower limitations for younger riders
The data clearly shows motocross carries substantially higher risks of both serious injury and fatality compared to traditional youth sports like football, soccer, basketball, and baseball.
More dangerous than football. Motocross is deadliest sport for kids
Motocross deaths often go uncounted when they occur on private property and without foul play. Highway motorcycle wrecks flow into a federal database, but deaths on off-road dirt bikes don't.
Nick Penzenstadler, Josh Peter, USA TODAY
Updated Dec. 4, 2025,
HURRICANE MILLS, Tennessee – Two medics rolled Ashlee Sokalski onto a backboard and fitted the 19-year-old with a neck brace in the middle of the dirt motocross track.
Other teen racers whizzed past on their off-road motorcycles, no halt to the race, no safety flaggers in sight.
Sokalski had sharpened her race skills for years and finally broke through a Mideast regional qualifier to be here at Loretta Lynn's Ranch among the dust and roar of the sport that ran in her family's blood.
But just minutes into the race, Sokalski flew off her Yamaha YZ250 motorcycle and another rider ran her over.
Her neck, skull, shoulder, leg and wrist were broken. Her right lung was crushed. She was barely breathing and had a faint pulse.
The record of the 2010 national motocross championship listed Sokalski's official result as DNF: Did not finish.
The injuries would kill her.
A USA TODAY investigation found that at least 158 children and teens have died on dirt bikes and at motocross tracks since 2000, more than six per year. That makes it the deadliest sport for young people – roughly seven times greater than tackle football.
Nineteen of the fatalities involved riders 10 years old or younger.
The sport is inherently dangerous, but fatal incidents follow a pattern where safeguards are ignored. The investigation showed riders of significantly different ages and sizes compete on the same courses, many of which include obstacles such as fences, trees, and vehicles too close to the tracks.
When crashes occur, many tracks still don’t have trained staff with flags or lights to warn other participants, and medics lack the advanced training necessary to care for and transport injured riders.
Click link for full story: