FIRST PERSON/OPINION:

By Alessandro Assanti

I’m Alessandro “Alex” Assanti. I’m a former motorcycle road racer and an attorney in Orange County, California. Going on 30 years I have represented motorcyclists and bicyclists, professional teams, racers and athletes, companies in the power sports industry, race sanctioning bodies, and closed course establishments such as paved racetracks and motocross parks.

I represent MotoAmerica racer Rocco Landers, one of the country’s best young road racers. He is trying to live the dream of being a professional racer. Rocco is one of those that do it for the love of the sport in hopes of one day getting a break. He is a kind, talented young person who I am honored to help.

In 2024, Rocco was riding a Supermoto bike at Adams Kart Track in Riverside, California and was involved in an accident with another rider on course. It was a common track incident involving Rivian mechanical engineer Greg Dachner. Dachner’s wife and father-in-law are both lawyers, and he decided to sue Rocco for the injuries he sustained in that incident, despite both riders signing a waiver (liability release) before entering the track.

Liability releases are what makes motorcycle racing possible. If liability releases don’t work, motorcycle racing will be impossible to insure and will cease to exist as we know it.

I have donated my time to make sure that Mr. Dachner does not prevail. I have absorbed all of the expenses thus far in order to make sure that this does not happen. We are getting close to trial and the costs are starting to mount. We have established a GoFundMe Page and I wanted all to know about this horrible situation so we can prevent Mr. Dachner from taking advantage of the legal system which continues to erode freedoms that motorcyclists enjoy. The funds raised will go toward retaining experts and paying court costs during the trial.

If we lose, expect that your motorcycling experience will change forever. For example, you head out to the racetrack and it will be in the back of your mind, that regardless of signing a waiver you could end up as a defendant in a court case where the other party seeks damages from you. Well, as they say, welcome to what Rocco and many others will have to confront if we do not stop this madness. Essentially waivers will be meaningless, which could create the possibility that there will be no open-to-motorcycle tracks left in California. Worse, it could easily spread to other states since California is a bellwether state for other states adopting legal principles in the civil litigation arena.

When you get on a motorcycle, and especially on a race course with other riders on the course, you need to appreciate the risk–or don’t ride a bike on a track. It is that simple. Many of us have had racing incidents where we went to the hospital or had to endure an injury through no fault of our own. It is the risk we are willing to accept to experience the awesomeness of riding on track.

Please let everyone you know about this situation. We need to have litigation pressure against this as well an online presence. If you want to look up the case, it was filed in the Superior Court in the County of Riverside, Case No. CVRI 2304163. (It is also shown below, along with the waiver Mr. Dachner signed.) Mr. Dachner’s attorneys (and wife and father-in-law) are David Flyer and Raquel Flyer Dachner.

Please help us by going to the Supporting Rocco Landers Legal Defense Fund on GoFundMe. Help us keep our motorcycling freedoms alive. Thank you.

Alessandro G. Assanti, Esq.
A.G. Assanti & Associates, PC
www.bike911.com