Monster truck shows are exciting. With bright lights, cheering fans, and daredevil stunts, it’s no wonder monster trucks attract big audiences. Still, safety is always an important concern in any sport. What about the drivers doing these dangerous stunts? Do monster truck drivers get injured?
Monster Truck Drivers Run Risks
Despite safety precautions, accidents happen. According to Monster Truck Wikia, a fan site compiling information on monster truck history, accidents to drivers and others have indeed happened at monster truck performances. Some of the unfortunate people injured or killed have been spectators and show technicians.
Do monster truck drivers get injured? Yes, they do, but not as much as one would think. With its speed racing, high jumping, rolling, and obstacle course events, monster truck driving is inherently risky. Some of the injuries drivers have experienced have been due to driver incapacitation or miscalculation. Other accidents have happened because of mechanical problems, breakdowns, or failure of safety equipment. Regrettably, not all factors that go into an accident can be accounted for in advance.
However, fatal accidents of any kind are actually quite rare in the monster truck industry. Promoters and other professionals have worked hard to improve safety standards for drivers, performers, and enthusiastic spectators alike. The goal of a monster truck show is to entertain and delight audiences, and safety is a crucial part of that goal.
What Really Happens?
What kinds of injuries do monster truck drivers suffer? Have these injuries been fatal?
It’s important to understand why monster truck injuries occur and find out what steps have people taken to make monster truck driving safer for everyone. Read on to find out more.
Dennis Anderson’s Injuries
Almost no one knows more about monster truck driver injuries than Dennis Anderson. One of the most famous monster truck drivers in the world for decades, Anderson is the person behind the legendary monster truck “Grave Digger.”
With four USHRA World Finals championships to his name for racing and freestyle, Anderson has earned his experience the hard way. After Anderson experienced a recent injury, his son Adam tweeted multiple updates for his father’s fans. Adam added that injuries were a part of the sport, but “that’s what makes life exciting.”
In many ways, Dennis Anderson’s long career is a testimony to the injuries monster truck drivers can endure over the course of their careers. Anderson broke a kneecap hitting a wall at the Rosemont in Chicago in 1991; in 1992, he broke several ribs in a Kentucky monster truck match. Anderson’s injury worsened after a nosedive maneuver called the “lawn dart.” Additionally, Anderson has injured his hands, shoulders, and wrist. Recently, he was hospitalized after performing a backflip.
Big Beasts
Considering the stunts that monster trucks perform, it’s understandable that Anderson suffered injuries. Monster trucks perform back flips, doughnuts, cyclones, pogos, slap wheelies, sky wheelies, and moonwalks. The trucks jump over cars or roll end over end. The agility and power of these trucks are extreme, as are the skills that monster truck drivers perform.
Monster trucks are engineered for these powerful stunts. Costing around a quarter-million dollars to build, monster trucks are designed to move at top speed and fly over 40 feet. Monster Jam driver and instructor Tom Meents explained in a 2018 interview with Business Insider magazine that monster trucks are “100% like engineered fighter jet airplanes.”
As driver Brianna Mahon added, “Our trucks are 12 feet tall…about 12-foot wide and they weigh anywhere from 10 to 12 thousand pounds… And, you know, it’s just so cool to drive such a big beast of a truck.” As Mahon points out, it takes a great deal of skill to operate these “big beasts” safely.
Safety First
Protecting drivers, spectators, event organizers, technicians, and others is a crucial goal for any sport, especially Monster Jam. Monster Jam, a popular television show and live motosport, stresses safety at all times.
Safety features to protect Monster Jam truck drivers include a roll cage protecting the driver. A five-point or seven-point harness helps hold the driver in the most optimal safety position. Importantly, each truck has a special engine kill switch. Event organizers or other safety officials can remotely disable any vehicle they determine is operating unsafely or presenting a potential problem for drivers, spectators, or others.
The seat also plays an important role in preventing driver injury. The seats in a monster truck are high-backed to protect the neck and head. The seat itself is molded and bolted directly to the chassis of the monster truck, so the driver stays in an optimal safety position like in a child safety seat. Layers of high-impact foam cushion the driver from multiple angles.
Safe truck design is only part of the picture intended to minimize or prevent injury. Monster Jam requires a number of crucial safety features in the drivers’ uniform and equipment.
One of the biggest causes of driver injury is fire damage. Following the safety rules laid down by Monster Jam, in addition to a five-point harness and molded seats, each driver is required to wear a special fire-resistant driving suit offering three layers of insulation from a possible engine or fuel fire. Fire-resistant gloves and shoes are also mandatory equipment, as is a fire-resistant driver’s helmet.
The helmet also works to restrict the movements of the head and neck to protect against whiplash, spinal injury, and brain damage in the event of a rollover or crash. To give drivers optimal control over their vehicle, fire-resistant gloves are coated in a tacky grip for wheel maneuvers. Drivers’ shoes have intentionally thin soles to give them control over the throttle and brake.
In short, it’s clear that driver safety is a crucial issue in the monster truck world. Despite Dennis Anderson’s serious injuries, it’s important to note that none has been fatal or permanently life-altering. Anderson’s long career highlights not only his skill as a driver but the safety features and improvements to the sport over time.
Related Questions
Is there formal safety training to prevent monster truck drivers from getting injured?
Monster truck driving is still very much a self-directed sport without a great deal of formal coaching or training . However, this is a feature of the sport that may be undergoing change. Monster Jam is currently offering a “Monster Jam University” to help establish a pipeline of new talent in the monster truck industry.
Qualified applicants to Monster Jam University must pass a three-day audition test before going through a safety-focused curriculum. The curriculum includes training on fitting into and operating a monster truck. Students spend a full day on safety procedures. Drivers watch videos to analyze their driving skills. Pinpointing correct and incorrect techniques not only improves the driver’s abilities but enables drivers and others to participate more safely in the sport.
How does the MTRA (Monster Truck Racing Association) keep spectators safer as well as drivers?
Keeping monster truck drivers from being injured goes hand in hand with keeping spectators safe. After a six-year-old spectator was killed in 2009 at a monster truck show in Tacoma, Washington, the MTRA took clear steps to improve its safety features for spectators. One of the most important changes was to establish a 30-foot safety zone beyond the performance area. In the past, some spectators have been injured by out-of-control cars or flying debris. The 30-foot zone provides a safety-conscious buffer between the cars and the fans.
Most importantly, all MTRA-approved trucks must have an RII, or remote ignition interrupter. The RII is essentially a “kill switch” that instantly shuts down a vehicle if it appears to pose a danger to anyone.
In short, despite the fact that monster truck drivers and others do occasionally suffer injuries as a part of the sport, each year brings new safety features for drivers and spectators alike.
