Foundation takes an advocacy role
12:23 AM PST on Thursday, February 17, 2005
By LYLE SPENCER / The Press-Enterprise

To family members and friends, Canyon Lake 's Brett Downey was the beaming, perpetual-motion, two-thumbs-up kid.

Carefree and outgoing, he was planning a future on the motocross circuit and then as a firefighter.

In the late morning of Aug. 19, 2004 , Brett's life ended at Glen Helen Raceway in Devore during a practice run amid the roar of engines that had captivated him for seven of his 11 years.

Getting on his feet after falling off his 80 cc motorcycle, he was run over by a larger, heavier 450 cc machine and killed almost instantly, according to police reports.

"He was the best little kid, so upbeat and positive -- and really talented," said fellow rider Matt Tedder, 18, at Perris Raceway, where he used to practice alongside Brett. "His accident shouldn't have happened. It was a mixture of a lot of things, but it wasn't Brett's fault. He didn't do anything wrong."

Brett's parents, Jim and Kathy Downey, have spent the past six months searching for meaning in the aftermath of the tragedy.

They have found solace in the Brett Downey Safety Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving motocross track conditions and heightening safety awareness through a series of innovative measures.

"People ask my wife and I how we can stay in the sport after what happened," Jim Downey said, seated in the Murrieta den of former motocross rider Kenny Morris Jr. "It's because my son taught us so much about life through the sport, and I feel we have to give back any way we can.

"One of the reasons we're starting the foundation is that I don't want another family going through this."

Downey is president of the foundation, and Morris is its vice president. They plan to make it a motocross touchstone, approving and endorsing tracks while establishing and enforcing new safety standards.

The campaign is being launched in southwestern Riverside County -- "the Mecca of motocross," Morris said -- on Sunday at Starwest Raceway in Perris with races, raffles and autograph sessions featuring such motocross stars as Murrieta's Ivan Tedesco. Proceeds go to the foundation, which has raised $39,000.

Downey calls it "our first test for some of the things we want to do."

Central to the task is staffing tracks with trained flaggers. Flaggers are the people who stand in the middle of the action, unfurling flags to signal and warn riders. Yellow means caution, but the degree of caution is left to the promoter's discretion, which often causes confusion.

There were no flaggers at Glen Helen when Brett Downey was killed, and visibility was poor due to dusty conditions, according to his father.

At Sunday's event, the foundation plans to provide flaggers with headsets for instant communication with track officials, as well as standard orange safety vests and whistles.

The foundation's goals include certifying flaggers, making emergency medical technicians mandatory at practices as well as races, and enhancing visibility by using water tracks to keep down dust.

"The foundation is going to have a big impact on our sport, forcing some necessary changes," said Freddie Edwards, whose wife, Donna, operates Perris Raceway, the oldest motocross track in California .

"The Downeys have quietly done a lot of great things. Knowing Brett the way I did, I think this is what he'd have wanted."

Jim Downey is concerned about the sport's future.

"If we don't start fixing it, the government could come in ... and we could lose the sport," he said. "Kenny and I have a passion for this."

Morris, 30, had been a motocross rider for 16 years when he shattered his fifth vertebrae in a spill during a 1998 Glen Helen race. He now uses a wheelchair to get around.

"Not a day goes by that I don't do something related to motocross," said Morris, who takes the foundation's reins on days when Downey can't find his emotional bearings.

Downey and Morris praised Corona-based motocross companies and other sponsors for their generous support.

Wristbands and T-shirts are being made for sale on the foundation's Web site, www.mxsafety38.org . Brett's jersey number, 38 -- memorialized on a large rock at Perris Raceway -- and the "Let God Steer" message from his necklace form images on the T-shirt.

Brett's familiar two-thumbs-up gesture is the foundation logo.

The Downeys have two daughters, Brittany, 17, and Brooke, 14. Jim described the family as "devout Christians," fighting back tears as he related a story.

"His mom got a feeling. She heard Brett say, 'Mom, help those other kids so what happened to me doesn't happen to them.' "