Insurance for track time

[Walker]

Hey folks, not to put a damper on track time but I thought you might want to check your insurance before you do track time.

You might remember me as the fellow who hit the wall @ VOI9 totalling my ACR & injuring the instructor. Fortunately my insurance covered me but unfortunately only to $100,000. Well the instructor has sued me for beyond policy limits as well as suing the track, Skip Barber, and the Viper Club, Nevada Region. Just like the rest of you, I didn't think it would ever happen to me. I am responsible and have never wrecked a car before. This has been a nightmare that will never go away.

Be sure you have very good insurance before you go out there!

[rcl4668]

I am very sorry to hear this. This is an important reminder that even if one was to purchase dedicated, separate insurance for track days/driving schools, it does not necessarily cover liability fo rpersonal injury.

Just out of curiosity, did everyone participating in the event (including the instructor) sign a liability waiver and if so, what was the scope of the waiver (for example, just as to damages against the organizer of the event or for any and all injuries that occur, regardless of the cause of the injury)?

/Rich

[99 R/T 10]

Ship Barber screwed up and should have had the instructors they hired signed a waiver to release them the track and car owners from any liability. They should have taken care of this before it got to the courts. They were contracted b y Dodge to provide a service and SB fail to properly do that. I only hope that Dodge does their due diligence and thoughly check out and insure the next set of driving instructors are professional and the Viper owners are covered by not only liability-waiver forms, but also by insurance.

Sorry to hear you had this huge issue Walker, it should never have come to this and I hope it works out for the best.

[ViperTony]

Sorry to hear that Walker. Come to think of it, I had an instructor at Pocono last year ride in my Viper all day long. Great guy and he helped me tackle the track. In hindsight, I don't remember if I signed anything that day let alone what the liability, waivers, etc. might have been. I was too excited to get on the track to think about anything else. This is a wake up call. I really hope you get this settled and can put it behind you. What was the extent of the instructor's injuries?

[Walker]

Lost a toe and a broken leg.

[DodgeViper01]

Wow, I am very sorry to hear about this. Good luck with the case and please keep us updated.

[Warfang]

How wierd... I was just thinking about this incident today. So sorry this happened, and sorry to the instructor for losing his toe. I hate to blame the injured, but I dunno what he's thinking suing you. This is a job hazard you sign up for when you teach performance driving. Was he teaching pro-bono? I realize his lawyers are having him sue everything under the sun to cover all basis, but that's just not right. I know you can't comment, but I doubt u wrecked your car on purpose to hurt him.

I thought the VCA covers you to an extent during it's functions? What exactly DOES this coverage I read about in all the membership renewal letters entail? What kind of coverage is it?

[Schulmann]

I am really curious that the instructor sued you. You never had a direct contract with him.
In fact you should have hit back since he didn't do his job.

A note to everybody:
Basically there is no track insurance. Walker was covered because he was participating in a driving school event. When a club organizes an event it is very important that organiser clearly state the purpose of the event: Driving school and no timing. Accreditations are very important too. In addition all "track renters" are required to have a liability insurance covering minimum 5mio $. In fact when the organizer contracts the insurance the cie requires a clear description of the event. Usually insurance uses the terme "schooling day".


I don't know who contracted the Las Vegas Motor Speed Way but seems that the liability insurance coverage was not adequat. Each track requires an insurance. There is no "annual" coverage for organizers or tracks no matter who they are. I am really stunned that the event insurance didn't kick in. Looks like a long lawyer battle ...

Regarding the instructors: They are there to keep you on the track and keep you alive. The problem with these driving schools that instructors are "performance" oriented instead of safetly. A week ago I spent an hour on the phone with two instructors. We have hired our own instructor so the guy will keep eye on the VCA guys when lapping. The two instructors could not agree on the lenght of the briefing after each lapping session. One wanted to skip it the other wanted to spend 15 min in the classroom. So basically we have our own Viper instructor to have an eye on the safety. I learned it the hard way ...

I know it is very sad to have an accident. An accident should never happen in a driving school. Instructors are paid to do their job.

And what is the status of the legal battle ?
Is it still going on or did you manage to settle ?

[ViperTony]

Originally Posted by Warfang

How wierd... I was just thinking about this incident today. So sorry this happened, and sorry to the instructor for losing his toe. I hate to blame the injured, but I dunno what he's thinking suing you. This is a job hazard you sign up for when you teach performance driving. Was he teaching pro-bono? I realize his lawyers are having him sue everything under the sun to cover all basis, but that's just not right. I know you can't comment, but I doubt u wrecked your car on purpose to hurt him.

I thought the VCA covers you to an extent during it's functions? What exactly DOES this coverage I read about in all the membership renewal letters entail? What kind of coverage is it?

Walker could probably make the argument that the instructor was pushing him, possibly beyond his skill level at the point of impact. It's not as if they were joyriding in the streets but rather he was being professionally instructed on a closed course. But you're right Warfang...its just not right. People suck...well some of them anyway.

It also sounds like whomever organized the track experience dropped the ball on insurance coverage.

[kcobean]

As a VCA member, one of the benefits is:

• $1,000,000 liability insurance at official VCA events

This is a part of what our dues pay for. Have you looked into this?

[Schulmann]

At the presidents' meeting in January the insurance was one of the discussion subjects. Bob talked about a lot of problems finding the appropriate insurance for the VCA. (We didn't know about Walker's problems at that time). I have the impression that the VCA was running on a fake coverage. Sometimes things are not so simple. You only discover that you are not covered when you need your insurance.

[Affatica]

Originally Posted by kcobean

As a VCA member, one of the benefits is:

• $1,000,000 liability insurance at official VCA events

This is a part of what our dues pay for. Have you looked into this?

But does this count as an official VCA event even though it is sponsored by Dodge?

[Walker]

Since the VCA is a named defendant maybe they can chime in. The instructor's attorneys have rejected an offer to settle for policy limits before they filed suit.

[kcobean]

Originally Posted by Walker

Since the VCA is a named defendant maybe they can chime in. The instructor's attorneys have rejected an offer to settle for policy limits before they filed suit.

May I ask on what grounds they are suing? i.e. are they calling it negligence?

[Walker]

Yes. Maybe the insurance the club purchases is only for the club?