ffr crash

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Bernica

I believe that one of the many reasons the manufacturers sell the cars as "rollers" is that it is then just considered a "part". What you do with that part after you purchase it is up to you.

... and most people have no idea how ungodly expensive real litigation is.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by SunDude

To help put this into perspective: According to this web-base BAC calculator (www.bloodalcoholcalculator.org), I would need to drink 8 beers in 1 hour to blow a 0.146. That's a lot.

IMO, this punk's actions were 100% criminal and he deserves to be severely punished. His grossly negligent actions have ruined the lives of two families, his own and the victim's.

The calculator shows I would need to drink 8 beer in an hour to blow 0.148. It's been a long time since I had 8 beer in 24 hours!

The calculator also indicates I could drink 5 beer in an hour and blow 0.075. The more likely scenario is I would have 2 beer in an hour, perhaps 4 over an entire social evening, so that's somewhere around 0.020 to 0.025 - but I still wouldn't take the Cobra out.

12 hours bottle to throttle seems to be a good rule - especially for these cars.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by Danr55

To my knowledge, Arizona law requires seat belts for the passenger in the front seat only. There is no mention of rollover protection that I am aware of.

Legislation and regulations here (Saskatchewan) require no more than lap belts for 'convertibles', and is completely silent on rollover protection.

[Bernica]

In the case I mentioned above where we had an employee get into trouble, when the lawsuits started flying our company was even sued and had to defend ourselves in the civil lawsuit. The lawyers pretty much went after anyone and everyone and claimed that since he had not gone home from work yet, he might still have been considered on the clock, even though he had left work at 4pm and the accident happened after midnight. That's how bizarre it can get. We still had to defend ourselves and spend a ton in legal fees.

One thing I learned during all of that was that the kid's vehicle was still registered and insured in both his and his parents name, which left the parents wide open to a $2.5mil lawsuit and cost them their home when all was done.

Lesson here was as our counsel told me, always have your kids vehicles ONLY registered in their name in case they ever do something stupid, God forbid.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Bernica

One thing I learned...

The only thing you can really do is have a large umbrella policy. I've harped about it on here for years -- roughly $150/yr per million coverage. Lawsuits today are becoming just another "cost of living."

[bingo2]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The only thing you can really do is have a large umbrella policy. I've harped about it on here for years -- roughly $150/yr per million coverage. Lawsuits today are becoming just another "cost of living."

This is some of the best free advice you will ever get; if you have any significant assets, pay heed to Patrick's comment.

[Detroit Bill]

Originally Posted by bingo2

This is some of the best free advice you will ever get; if you have any significant assets, pay heed to Patrick's comment.

I am all umbrella'd up.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bill

I am all umbrella'd up.

... and make sure the umbrella policy specifically references the underlying base coverage on the Cobra, which presumably comes from a different policy (a collector's policy, usually) than your other daily drivers. If you don't do that, then you get an "F" on this test.

[lippy]

Patrick, could you add more color on what this means and how to do it? I have an umbrella but it doesn't reference my Cobra policy in any specific way.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by lippy

Patrick, could you add more color on what this means and how to do it? I have an umbrella but it doesn't reference my Cobra policy in any specific way.

The insurance carrier that is underwriting the umbrella policy has to know about the risk that is involved with the policy that they are issuing. Obviously, an umbrella policy for the little old lady that drives to church on Sunday is going to cost less than the fella that also moonlights by packing parachutes, hosting fireworks parties, and helps to get rid of the nuclear waste from the local power plant. Make sense?

The reason that example applies to you is that you probably have an automobile policy, a homeowner's policy, and maybe a personal articles floater for your guns/jewelry/coins, all from the same carrier "All-Hands Insurance." In addition, you have an umbrella policy from All-Hands for $5 Million liability and it references your underlying homeowners and auto policy, which is also with them.

Now you go out and buy your Cobra and you get a classic car policy from "ACME Collector Cars" and it's for an agreed value of, say, $90k and it provides for, say, $300k/$500k liabilty coverage. You feel pretty good because you know you also have that $5M policy. You are well aware that if you gork someone out, you are looking at a multi-million dollar payout.

BUT, you have a bad accident and, when you notify All-Hands, they tell you that they were unaware of your Cobra and the collector's policy on it. They then say that the umbrella coverage does not apply to your Cobra. As it turned out, had you notified All-Hands when you bought the Collector's Policy, they would have only charged you $100 more a year to bind coverage from the umbrella to the Cobra's base coverage. But it's too late now.

Moral -- never play "hide and seek" with your insurance agent or your carriers. Make sure they know what they are insuring, and make sure the umbrella policy clearly references the Cobra, and its underlying policy, so that it is obvious and plain to anyone looking at it.

[Joe's Garage]

Roadster accident fatal - FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum
Joe

[madmaxx]

Couldn't this individual claim he was exposed to an entitled childhood and did not have the opportunity to understand consequence? There was a case in Texas not long ago and the aforementioned was the defense and they won. That all being said somebody hurts or kills my daughter the "case" will be over before the first lawsuite is filed but I am a dying breed in this cowardly society I live in....

[SunDude]

Originally Posted by madmaxx

Couldn't this individual claim he was exposed to an entitled childhood and did not have the opportunity to understand consequence? There was a case in Texas not long ago and the aforementioned was the defense and they won. That all being said somebody hurts or kills my daughter the "case" will be over before the first lawsuite is filed but I am a dying breed in this cowardly society I live in....

Google "affluenza".

It's disgusting that such a ridiculous argument carried such weight in court.

[Bernica]

Not trying to stray this thread too far.
Nothing surprises me anymore. I am in the construction biz so pretty much an open target. A woman had a seizure and fell off the sidewalk and was run over by a bus a block away from the jobsite. Guess who got sued for not providing proper pedestrian warnings and walkways? We won, but actually the lawyers did.
It sadly has become a cost of doing business.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by Bernica

We won, but actually the lawyers did.

Patrick has got to eat somehow

[Maricopa]

Petty sure living in a singlewide outside of Tucson might negate any 'affluenza' defense....

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by Maricopa

Petty sure living in a singlewide outside of Tucson might negate any 'affluenza' defense....

Pretty much guarantees the civil suit attorneys will be looking for deeper pockets to go after as well as the family.

[madmaxx]

Couldn't the family divest of all their "wealth" at this point and be broke. A week ago and everyone was healthy and happy..... Hate to say but it will happen again this weekend to a different victim and family.

[ChiChris]

Yes, in America it is now the norm (and encouraged) to blame the environment VS the individual.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Dimis

Patrick has got to eat somehow

As far as I'm concerned, school teachers should be paid what I am, and vice versa. In that case, I would then be a school teacher.