Off-road motorcycling and the industry in general got some good news on Monday, April 13 when a jury in San Benito County, California, ruled against a motorcyclist who was suing the State of California for $36 million after suffering injury when he crashed his motorcycle on February 9, 2003 at the Hollister Hills SVRA.

The plaintiff had ridden his motorcycle into a sediment basin and, according to the State, misjudged his ability to negotiate the sloped side of the basin and was injured when his motorcycle flipped on top of him. There was no record of any previous accidents at the site in which he was injured, according to the State.

The plaintiff, however, sued the State under the Dangerous Condition of Public Property theory of liability, asserting that on the day of the accident, the sediment basin was in a dangerous condition.

Instead of the settling out of court, the State fought back, contending that the property was not in dangerous condition and that "the State was immune from liability based on the application of the hazardous recreational activity and trail immunities applicable to public entities through the Tort Claims Act."

The jury ruled in the State's favor 10-2 on Monday.

The victory is significant for the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation division and the entire California State Parks because of the liability issues that would have followed had the plaintiff won the suit. Had the suit gone the other way, the State could suddenly have been held liable for any and all persons injured "while engaged in hazardous recreational activities such as mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, kayaking, scuba diving, hang gliding, as well as OHV recreation," said Daphne Greene, deputy director of the off-highway division. "For all Local, County and State OHV facilities it could have meant a catastrophic blow to the program."

Greene is hopeful that this victory is meaningful and that it will stop others from suing the State.