Going it Alone to the GA Supreme Court: VCA balks on assistance

[RockyTop]

I know many on this board have followed my 2.5 year insurance claim saga. Well, on Monday my attorney and I will be filing a petition for certiorari (in laymen's terms, the won't you please consider my case request). As some of you may recall, I had asked that the VCA to consider using its own counsel to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court. For laymen, that's a third-party's brief supporting some or all aspects of my side of the case and is an attempt by an outsider who really does have a "dog in the hunt" to urge the court to make law that favors its position. The cost of such a brief would probably not exceed $3,000.

After some effort I was able to speak with Joe Houss who is as friendly and professional as can be and he was concerned, among other things, that if the club did it in my case, they'd have to do it in everyone's. My view differs from Joe's in that this is an opportunity to change what is about to be law in Georgia and, in time, its neighboring states of FL, TN, NC, SC, and AL. Nevertheless Joe said he'd ask Fiona, but I never heard back from him notwithstanding an e-mail inquiring about the status of his inquiry. Like all of us, our VCA officers have day jobs and I understand that my little case out here in the boonies just isn't as high on the priority list as the next cruise-in or tech session. O.K., maybe I am a little bummed.

I naively thought that if Congress, for example, were about to pass a law that would have a material and detrimental effect on the insurability of our just-for-fun track events, the club would endeavor at relatively modest expense to preserve this incredibly enjoyable vehicle ownership experience. I realize I was wrong.

In all truth, this affects the GA club the most directly, but the cost of the brief, which we have in our coffers, would have wiped out our surplus used for dinners and, God forbid, track tomfoolery. Nevertheless, Pete Mansolillo offered to consider this as a local club expense, but I refused. I could not in good faith deprive my fellow GA club members of all those good Italian food dinners.

The national club has generously offered more than $20,000 for our upcoming rendezvous, which will include activities at speed on the RoadAlanta track. I would not, however, count on having your accident covered should you come into contact with the substantial amounts of Armco there ! The chilling effect of this ruling on participation in the rendezvous remains to be seen. I hope it's none !

Undaunted, on the filing deadline of this Monday, March 10th, I am asking the GA Supreme Court's consideration of this matter. I hope, for all our sakes, they agree. As it stands now, this is bad law. Seriously, I am not bitter as I love our club and virtually all in it (except maybe Hoosier Daddy who on street tires schooled many of us at VIR last summer). I'm just tired and will be glad after these long 2.5 years to have this issue behind me one way or another. My pockets just feel lighter now. I would be remiss if I did not extend my special thanks for the moral support of my fellow Viper drivers Ryan Rouleau, Pete Mansolillo, Tony Armour, et. al.

In closing, I leave you with what I think some here may enjoy. These are some of the opening lines of our petition drafted by yours truly):

"The underlying subject matter of this case involved the unfortunate damage that arises when one combines a very fast Dodge Viper with driver error and a touchy air bag sensor. That damage, however, is easily and promptly reparable compared to the precedential damage that will result if the Court of Appeals'; even faster and equally erroneous review of the evidence at trial is left to alter, indeed emasculate, the "any evidence"; standard of review established and still followed by this Court in cases involving the Court of Appeals' denial of a motion for directed verdict. In its place the Court of Appeals seeks to substitute the unpredictable and precedentially hostile approach of applying the appellate panel's own interpretation and weighing of the evidence in place of that duty already performed by a properly selected jury."

[ryan 94RT]

We are all with ya rocky. I wish you the best. THis is like the movie, is this rocky 3? I think you beat clubber lang in this one so you will be just fine.LOL

see ya

ryan

[Hoosier Daddy]

Good Luck Mr. Hoarde. The driving event format as we believe to know it is at stake. I believe you schooled me when I put my Hoosiers on for the last session at VIR and fell short by 1 second! Till we meet again Godspeed and let me have a second chance at you before you retire!!

[Achilles99]

I am definitely sorry to hear about this, too. I would be in support of contributing to a voluntary "fund" to help you prevent this law from going into the books in GA. If it passes, I don't think anyone would want to bring their Viper to Road Atlanta for fear of damage!

If you set up a Paypal account to help fund the "Keep my Viper covered on the track" movement, I think a lot of fellow Viper owners would contribute. Especially since you are doing a service for all who would consider tracking their vehicle!

[RedGTS]

RockyTop, I sincerely mean no offense, but language like that set forth in your post will diminish your chances of success. A good brief is direct and understandable. Its sentences are not unnecessarily long or convoluted. It does not read as though the writer was trying to impress someone with grandiose phrases rather than the facts and the law. In other words, it is the opposite of what you wrote. What you wrote might impress a layman or even an unskilled attorney if they thought the reason it is so garbled is because it contains secret, important legalese, but an appellate court will likely view it as what it is--garbled and grandiose.

On another point, I would avoid referring to my Viper as much as possible, and I darn sure would not call it a "very fast Dodge Viper." Your case doesn't hinge on what kind of car you were driving, does it? While this should not make a difference as a technical matter, the practical reality is that the clerks and Judges reading your brief may create a mental image of a spoiled, rich guy zooming around in his exotic sportscar. It is doubtful that any of the clerks or Judges have a similar car, and most could not afford one. Courts are not particularly sympathetic toward insurance companies, but why say anything that might make the court less sympathetic toward you?

Again, I wish you well and really hope you win, and I offer this advice solely for that reason. Good luck.

[SoCal Rebell]

Sorry to hear it but what did you expect. VCA is interested in taking your $100 a year and sending you 4 mags in exchange. I had the same experience with "The Freedom of Speech Coalition" when I asked for help in my free speech trial. After giving them 10s of thousands of dollars in donations they would not return my call, everyone's your friend when you hand over the cash but god forbid you should actually need their services, it's BS.

[1TONY1]

Good luck Rocky. If this is delayed, then let us know and then maybe on behalf of the VCA we can do what Achilles said. I feel like the VCA dropped the ball here. I thought Joe Houss was in charge, maybe I should have e-mailed Fionna instead. While she is a great person I didn't know it was her responsibility to make these decisions. This is the first case like this I have heard of and that is why the VCA should have stepped up to the plate. Then the next guys attorney could reference your case if you prevail so there would be no need for a "next time for the next guy". If you lost then there is the VCA's reason for not doing it again. I also sent Joe an e-mail (shown below) and I never got a response. I don't care, "day job or not" no one is forcing them to hold their officer positions and as a member I expected a response. I hope a few years down the road we can't say .... I told you so.



e-mail to Joe Houss
2/20/2003
Just wanted to add my support for Rocky Horde. I have posted the link for you to look at in case you have not seen it. I would love to see him get this decision reversed back to the original as it should be. The importance of this to all of us, not only in Georgia but nation wide is huge. If nothing changes on this ruling the insurance companies will seize this opportunity to disallow more and more track accidents. It is my understanding that they have their own networks and resources to share this type of info. If the VCA can help in anyway it will be for the good of all the Viper community. We will even be having events at the very same track during the S.E. zone rendezvous.
Thanks, Tony Armour VCA# 14903

[garolittle]

Go Rocky! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Vic]

If the VCA doesn't step up to the plate and help fight the good fight, then it won't be long before the insurance companies in all states get wind of it, and then none of us will be covered for accidental car damage in ANY driving schools, (how bout Viper Days?)

And if my car isn't covered, then I can't afford to ball it up and take the loss. Which means that if I want to go on track, I will have to come with something that I can afford to lose, like an old C4 Vette, or something simular.

[jimandela]

Good luck Rock.. keep us posted.

[RockyTop]

Red GTS, thank you for your advice. I chopped it out of the petiton. you are right.

To the others who posted, thank you for your support and well wishes. I do not seek monetary help for my part of the case. Though I am very under-employed right now, I'll get by. What I was hoping to get was the Umpfh (sp. ?) created by having the national club behind me (at least in the briefs before the court). Oh well, I'll let folks know if I have any luck getting in front of the Supremes.

[Steve-Indy]

Too bad that the E-mail address for " RockyTop" doesn't work:

" The message cannot be delivered to the following address. ---

gwh@mmmlaw.com Mailbox unknown or not accepting mail.
550 No such recipient "

...might have had a couple of thoughts for him.

[RockyTop]

Sorry ! I changed jobs and that's my old e-mail address. It is now gwhorde@earthlink.net. Now to fix my profile...

[slaughterj]

If the VCA doesn't step up to the plate and help fight the good fight, then it won't be long before the insurance companies in all states get wind of it, and then none of us will be covered for accidental car damage in ANY driving schools, (how bout Viper Days?)

And if my car isn't covered, then I can't afford to ball it up and take the loss. Which means that if I want to go on track, I will have to come with something that I can afford to lose, like an old C4 Vette, or something simular.

Exactly.

[Viperrick]

Our local club had a recent general membership meeting and the insurance issue was brought up. The Illinois region has been doing road racing track events since 95 so we have many members who will be effected. However, I think that since many Vipers have been balled up in the past, and then their owners looked for their insurance companies to bail them out (replace the car), than what could we expect. Insurance is to cover you for an incident which happens which could not be avoided or maybe out of your control. Taking a car to a race track is avoidable and you the owner make the decision to put your car at risk. There are insurance companies who will write a policy for your race car (or your street car which you intend to use as a race car). It's not cheap but it is available.

Regarding the Rendezvous, please note that the VCA is not sponsoring a road racing event at Road Atlanta. The Zone Rendezvous is centered around an Autocross event which is normally held in a parking lot or large expanse of asphalt similar to a parking lot. The reason we do this is because it is the safest (although not fool proof) competitive driving event we know of. There will be a reception on Friday evening and an awards banquet on Saturday night. We would like to see a car show or cruise associated with the event but I do not remember a road racing event ever being a part of the Zone Rendezvous. Should a group of attendees choose to rent the Road Atlanta facility on their own, prior to the scheduled Zone Rendezvous, than they are welcomed to do so. But they will have to obtain their own event insurance policy and cover all associated costs.

I am sure that Joe looked into the matter that RockyTop referanced. Joe is very thourough. However, I can tell you that the VCA does not have on retainer, a law firm representing them. The action that RockyTop is bringing to light is one that anyone who is interested in track type activities should be aware of. It may effect you or those you know. But to say that the VCA should "step up to the plate" with financial assistance, is not a decision that the officers can or should make. This is not an organizational issue but a private one. We can look to see if other car clubs might be planning a responce.