Joe T

Interested to see how the RL community views the issue of crash damage responsibility. I'm not asking for opinions on the letter of the law but on what folks feel is the right thing to do. I must be snake bitten because in 3 of the last 4 PCA races I've brought my own car I've been hit through no fault of my own. It's really putting a sour taste in my mouth for racing and racing with PCA. I was hit at Sebring in 2017 in turn 10 by a driver that was over ambitious passing the car behind me not knowing there was another car in the corner. He promptly admitted his fault and paid for the repairs to my car. Got hit again at Sebring a few weeks ago in turn 13 by a driver that couldn't explain what happened as he wasn't remotely close enough to make a pass and admitted his fault. It was a pretty hard hit and the repair bill is staggering (likely north of $60k - both right side wheels, right rear upright, right rear shock, right rear axle, oil tank, right front toe link, steering rack and a fair amount of body work). This is a driver that has the wherewithal to pay for his mistake but has so far been silent. What do people here think is the right thing to do? These kind (cost) of repairs because of other's mistakes (brain fade for the most part) has me seriously reconsidering if racing is worth it. It's no fun to go out and get hammered and then have to pay huge repair bills.

David993S

Sorry for you bad luck. It happens. The accidents weren't your fault, but even when a racing accident is your fault, it's not intentional. Maybe bad racing judgment (on their part, not yours) in the situations you describe, but probably not intentional. Part of the risk of racing IMHO.
However...........if I were in your shoes, I may feel differently.

Veloce Raptor

IMO the first driver set the proper example. If a driver is at fault, especially by his or her own admission, and has the means, paying is the right thing to do.

Frank 993 C4S

I am very sorry to hear - feel for you! I've been hit three times in the past five years due to no fault of my own and the other drivers have never offered to pay for the damage, which was in the $10 - $15k range each time. If I every hit someone myself, I would probably offer to contribute towards the repair.

Mike Murphy

Paul Solk

Myself personally my primary rule in racing is don't do anything stupid and everything else will follow. If I broke that rule and caused damage as a result I would certainly want to try to make it right. Just me personally and not everyone is in the same bracket from a means perspective but even if it was installment payments I would certainly want to make the effort and I wouldn't feel right racing again until I made it right...
Just me.

LuigiVampa

I have mixed feelings about this topic. On the one hand the rule of "don't race if you can't walk away from a wreck" is in place in case someone with a low budget hits a really expensive car. If someone chooses to race a really expensive car they can't expect everyone to help them manage that risk.

There is also the various levels of stupidity when causing an accident. At what point is it just a racing incident versus such grossly negligent driving? Where is that line and who decides where that line is?

I've been fortunate only to have been involved in one rubout in about five years of club racing and about twelve years of DE (no contact in DE, yet!).

Because I can't just walk away from my car I get racing insurance which covers me for races, DE, test and tune, etc. The price is high and means doing one less event a year.

I hope to God I never do something so stupid that someone looks at me for payment because it might mean me hanging up my racing helmet. In general, I subscribe to the rule that if you are that worried you either shouldn't be out there or you need to insure your car.

As others have said, I may feel differently if I were ever hit. I will be comfortable being called a hypocrite but hope that never happens!

93 FireHawk 968

Joe, sorry to hear of your bad luck and the 991R is an "eye watering" car to repair. If someone is without a doubt in the wrong, they should offer to pay but very few racers will ever make that offer and I don't expect it. I know that when I pull onto the track it's all on me regardless of what happens, an assumed risk for all.

Coochas

While not in a race, I had a car completely destroyed when I went through someone else's entire engine oil dump. It was allegedly something that was preventable on the part of the oil dumping car (i.e. negligent).
I would never have expected that person to offer to pay for my car.
Bad things happen. Sometimes more than once.

cosm3os

I have turned down an offer to fix my car, when he did a bone-headed thing. We all understand the consequences of our participation.

Gary R.

This will come up a lot more once we have blinker passing in DE's....

Coochas

Nobody says the B word Gary.

jdistefa

Bitches!

fatbillybob

Don't race what you can't afford to walk away from. The guy on used cast off SM tires isn't going to pay for a GT3 Cup on new slicks. If he had the money he would race his own GT3 Cup and new slicks.

Veloce Raptor

Jealous !