Being Insured Is a Problem for the Tracks

Only a year ago, the bicycle motocross track at Ascot Park in Gardena was Southern California’s busiest.

Promoter Chris Agajanian offered racing three days a week and it was common to have 200 youngsters entered on race days. A national race drew 1,000.

But because the track couldn’t find a liability carrier who was willing to insure it against injuries to riders, and was forced to close a year ago. Agajanian said it was much easier to insure a sprint-car driver who slides around Ascot’s half-mile track at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour than a kid on a bicycle.

“Liability insurance for our BMX track has been unavailable at any price,” Cary Agajanian, an attorney and brother of the promoter, said at the time.

“There has been none. When I told carriers that we needed a minimum $1 million liability policy, they said, ‘Are you kidding?’

“Our own carrier for the car races at Ascot limited us to $25,000 and nothing more. We had no other choice but to close.”

Ascot is planning to re-open July 11 under the sanctioning of the American Bicycle Assn., which has been able to get the insurance it needs by combining the services of two carriers. But the frustration the Ascot track experienced trying to get insurance is indicative of the problems facing both recreational facilities, such as the track, and the insurance companies.

“We closed because there wasn’t a policy that was adequate,” Cary Agajanian said. “It’s frustrating to me because this is a clean, family-oriented sport. But I understand the reasons insurance companies are reluctant to carry a BMX track.

“They’re uncomfortable insuring young children and, in some cases, they’re uncomfortable the way these tracks are operated (without adequately trained support personnel).”

Clayton John, ABA president, said 268 of his organization’s 420 tracks closed in the past two years because of rising insurance costs.

“Our costs quadrupled when the liability crunch hit in 1986,” John said. “Our tracks don’t have pre-registration for races, so if a promoter took out a policy and had bad weather or a poor turnout, he was in trouble financially.

When the track opened two years ago, it was sanctioned by the National Bicycle League (NBL), which lost its insurance within six months. Ascot then switched to the ABA.

Both organizations offered medical insurance and a liability policy to Ascot, similar to the agreement the organizations have maintained with an estimated 400 tracks across the U.S.

But when the ABA could no longer offer the minimum $1 million liability policy that Ascot wanted, the track’s closing seemed almost inevitable.

Undaunted, Chris and Cary Agajanian launched a nationwide search for a carrier to keep the track operating. Cary serves as a defense attorney in liability cases for NASCAR and CART racing programs and has contacts throughout the country in the insurance business. He figured he could find a carrier.

But he wasn’t so fortunate.

“Basically, if a boy or girl is under 18, there’s no insurance,” Chris Agajanian said. “If a 16-year-old takes you to court, you’re going to lose.”

Cary Agajanian estimated that many of the BMX tracks that have been operating over the past two years have failed to get a policy that adequately protects the track.

Policies will vary, but Agajanian said a race promoter can obtain a policy for as little as $100.

“Some are very inexpensive, but it isn’t true coverage,” he said. “In most cases, these policies cover the spectators but not the participants in case of injury. Who gets hurt at a BMX race? It’s not the spectators.”

Agajanian estimated a general liability policy that would adequately cover a national event with 1,000 riders should cost a promoter $600 to $700, if available.

John estimated that the average cost of operating an ABA track for a normal 200-rider race is $63 per day for liability and medical insurance. Costs rise substantially for a national race with more competitors and more races.

“There were times when I thought the sport was finished,” John said. “I didn’t know if we would survive. This year, we’ve obtained a new policy with two different carriers that fits the needs of the promoters and the riders. I wasn’t going to let such a good sport that’s so conducive to family entertainment die.”