WFAA reports: Safety an issue at Rednecks with Paychecks rallies

It’s an intoxicating lure to off-road rally fans.

Rednecks With Paychecks. Three days of mud and mayhem. The sign out at the entrance to the Montague County property where it’s held proclaims the only rules are “no drugs, no fights, and no stealing.”

But the fine print on the waiver you must sign before entering the park is somewhat more explicit.

The public must “acknowledge that the activities of the events are very dangerous” and “involve the risk of serious bodily injury,” the “possibility of death,” and that you must “assume all risk.”

At a rally in March 2015, Nicholas Torres, 10, of Fort Worth was killed when he ran his ATV into the side of pickup. A year later, on March 12, 30-year-old Stephanie Baldridge of Crowley was killed when the ATV she was riding flipped on top of her.

Event organizers have pledged to make the events safer. Earlier this month, News 8 took our cameras to a Rednecks rally to see what safety measures had been put in place.

We saw adults everywhere guzzling beer and driving their ATVs fast, as well as children — riding with parents or driving on their own — crossing paths. Uniformed security officers and paramedics watched and hoped that nothing went wrong.

Their vigilance would prove futile. Within hours of our team leaving, on another side of the park, tragedy struck again. Jeff Sawyer, 34, of Corinth flipped his 4-wheeler. He was crushed and died. Read full report at WFAA.com

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 9:52 PM with the headline "WFAA reports: Safety an issue at Rednecks with Paychecks rallies."