My kids race GP motorcycles (Ohvale, Honda NSF250/Moto3) and it’s interesting how many well meaning but ignorant parents tell me how dangerous that is, yet they’ll gladly let their kids play soccer, do gymnastics, or (in the U.S.,) play tackle [American] football. Track racing injuries at the semi-pro and pro levels are a lot more rare than in traditional ball sports. Injuries do happen, but the safety gear is so advanced that it’s relatively rare. Far more dangerous riding a bicycle to school than racing at 200+mph on closed course racetracks.

4 kids racing for the past year in Spain and our only injury was a broken wrist while practicing on a supermoto in a parking lot. Countless crashes, but injuries have been rare. The soccer kids at their school though — seems like there is always one on crutches.

Anecdotal, sure, but actual safety and perception of safety aren’t always the same. I think last year in racing there were maybe two fatalities in the entire world in organized motorcycle racing. In just August in the USA, 7 kids died playing American football. [1] In MotoGP, only 8 in the history of the sport have died while racing, with Marco Simoncelli being the most recent in 2011. The list of pro soccer players who have died after infield incidents is extensive.[2]

My point is that “high risk” in my opinion, isn’t well defined.

[1] https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5091883/middle-high-sch... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_association_football...