After pulling off his extremely edgy freeway jump over the 60 freeway through Moreno Valley, California, freestyle motocrosser Kyle Katsandris is gaining notoriety from two corners of society.
Like most of us who read DirtBikes.com, there are those who think that Katsandris’ stunt was well-planned, well-calculated and rather mundane considering the breadth of his talents as a motorcycle rider. And then there those in general society who are up in arms about Katsandris freeway jump, claiming that it was reckless, dangerous and could have resulted in his own death and/or the deaths of innocent motorists who were using the road at the time of the freeway jump.
Whatever side you come down on, however, there is no denying that the relatively simplistic act (by freestyle standards, anwyay) of jumping a motorcycle over a roadway with moving cars is spectacular to say the least. As one local news outlet reported when it tried to get hold of Katsandris and reached a friend who was answering questions for him, the jump itself was relatively easy, and he has performed far wilder stunts than this one.
The issue remains, however, that the stunt features unwilling participants in the motorists who are traveling on the road at the time of the freeway jump–or at least could have been. Yes, the likelihood that Katsandris would somehow slam into someone below was pretty low. But what about the chance that a rock off one of his tires could have smacked a windshield and set off a chain reaction that could result in a collision. Or, for that matter, what about the possibility that the sheer distraction of seeing a motorcycle flying overhead could have led to some sort of traffic accident. These are some of the details that are not often thought through during the planning stages by guerilla stunt performers.
These points are relatively moot since neither has been reported. The more relevant issues now will lie in the aftermath of the successful stunt. As far as we have seen, no charges have been filed against Katsandris yet, although we do live in litigious California, so it wouldn’t surprise us if he does find himself facing to criminal or civil penalties.
Whatever happens, the genie is out of the bottle, and Katsandris’ freeway jump has made him the man of the week on YouTube. Time will tell whether or not he ultimately enjoys the fame that he sought.
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