myrmidon

That is not neccessarily true. Just prior to the recent DE event that I attended in WA, I decided to take a close look at the 'fine print' in my insurance (which in my case is Progressive).

The following is EXCLUDED from coverage:
"Any pre-arranged event on a temporary or permanent racing surface".

Now in my case the event was certainly pre-arranged, and it was held on a permanent racing surface - so with Progressive, I was definately flying solo.

Dave S

OK here's a scenario for you. Guy goes to a DE and someone hits him. He goes to his insurance company and the company pays him but sues the guy who hit him. Now you either pay up or have to pay possible high legal fees. I still say the whole thing is not clean because any jerk can sue you if he wants to.

Ray S

Hey, this is America. You can sue for millions if your dry cleaner loses your pants, but that does not mean you will win.

PJorgen

Here's another perspective. I would be tempted to pay for damage I believe I caused to another car, but my attorney would go nuts if I did.

Here’s why; let’s say I come up to you after the incident and we agree that the damage is $3k, so I write you a check. I’ve now admitted fault. You turn out to be a jerk and decide to sue me later for more damages, pain and suffering or whatever. In court you’re going to produce the check I wrote as my admission of being at fault. I’m now probably going to lose the law suit and be on the hook for serious $.

I’m not saying this is what would happen in this case, but just one more thing to keep in mind in our litigious society.

RamVA

Hey, who you callin' a jerk?

pat056

I agonized over this liability issue in DE's for several years. Now I race so I know there's no "fault" , I know the potential liability, and I do it anyway because going 150 mph in a Porsche is fun! I just had my 1st bill for a bonehead move(by a BMW M3, btw) and it hurt...real bad!!
I'll be at another race this weekend...quess I got over it

Z-man

Good point. We live in sad times -- when you run the risk of losing a lawsuit because you thought you did the honorable thing.

I suppose I can still offer to help as long as I have the person I'm giving money to sign a liability waiver....

Then again, the fact that the event waiver was signed by both myself and other person, I can argue that my monetary gift was a donation to a charity... or something like that.

-Z-man.

bpoteat

Before I read this response, I was on the middle about this thing, but thinking the BMW guy should've paid at least something. Now, I'm the opposite. This guy's right - it may be the BMW driver's fault that the accident happened, but it's not his fault that the cost to repair is big $$$ (just an example here - I know the real situation wasn't that bad).

Hell, now I'm not sure I would pay for someone's fixes if I caused an accident. Yeah, I might give them a $100 or buy him and his friends a round of drinks but I'm not paying for some guy's Ferrari F430 $1000 brake light at just because he was willing to risk it.

We know we can't count on your street insurance or the other guy paying. So, there are basically two options - either you are willing to have your car possibly trashed or you get track insurance. That's pretty much the whole thing, right?

TD in DC

Bingo.

TR6

Very true. The problem is that by the time it finally gets in front of a judge to get thrown out of court, the legal fees have already financially ruined the person being sued in addition to the ulcer from worrying about it for months.

washington dc porsche

Quick question, what racing circuit driver/team pays for damages to other racers who get tangled in collisions?

Sanjeevan

I personally will never pay anyone for damages caused on the track irrelevent of who is at fault, and obviously will expect the same from others.

Ray S

Two words.

1) Tort
2) Reform

TD in DC

Those two words would be entirely unnecessary if individuals, and their attorneys, would just pay attention to two other words:

"Be Decent"

Brian P

From reading the "Going Faster" book, it sounds like they implemented that in the Skip Barber series. Whether that is still the operating philosophy, I have no idea.