Falcon

Even if outside tech inspections were required, what's to prevent someone from signing the form:

Goober Bodine
Ace Mechanic
Troutman Bait Shop and Performance Center

Damn, that sure looks familiar!

wallyman424

I think his cousin Booger tech'd my car once!

davidfarmer

I hate carrying passengers....to much risk. Things go wrong.....VERY wrong, and I don't want to take anybody else down with me.

There are lots of fast cars at the track, lots of mediocre drivers in solo and instructor groups, and this is only going to get worse as cars get faster and faster.

Be carefull.....and if you enjoy doing this, make sure your family knows that you take responsibility for your own actions, and not to sue every breathing sole at the track if something goes wrong.

AU N EGL

Noted.

Bill Dearborn

All of the events I attend at Watkins Glen allow the participants to fill out their own tech sheets. In my area it is hard to find a shop that will actually sign one of those sheets as they are afraid of being held liable. So even if you have a shop do the inspection you end up signing it yourself anyways.

Bill

John Shiels

Do you think a shop wants to be involved stating a car is inspected or does that mean safe? You kill a rotor after two days running and it explodes. He inspected it

I haven't had anyone tech my car at any event in years except check battery is tight, oil cap, pull on wheels.

Later I'll read the article

Cobra4B

^ Exactly.... no shop wants to be held laible.

AU N EGL

Exactly. Ok How do we convince ourselves and new ppl that out tech sheet is very important to our safety and the safety of others?

I know what NASA does, what does the SCCA do?


I have been to several events, that did not give a rats arz about tech and said that is the drivers problem. Or should we even bother?

I spend several hours on my car before each event, just for my safety.

Axelrod

Tech inspections are all about "self responsibility"

As soon as it becomes the responsibility of someone with the club to tech your car-- all bets are off. You've been there, you see the guy that shows up with mediocre or improper equipment, and he talks his way out of it. It's too late for people to show up at an event, and then expect a tech inspection to "pass"

What if they "fail" ? They waited till the last minute to bring good equipment with them, and they failed. But, they've already laid down their entry fee and so forth and have been registered.

So, to me, it's a no-brainer. Clubs need to put the tech inspection responsibility back on the owners of the cars. And this is for their own good! Wouldn't you want to know if you have a bad wheel bearing several weeks in advance? Or, do you show up and expect a parking lot repair at an HPDE driving day? The idea is to arrive prepared. It's all about safety

^^ The above is geared toward high speed lapping/DE days.

For real club competition racing? If your car is un-safe-- you are dead. The organizing body will want the roll bar to be certified-- but it's up to you if all other components of the car are up to snuff and safe. Handle it carelessly ? Blow by course worker stations totally oblivious? Chances are it has been discussed here to some degree.. and not in the nicest of tones by myself.

Everyone makes mistakes, including me. And, to that end, truthfully, the article and summary judgement disgusts me. It wasn't the driver's fault, or was it ? Motorsports racing is NOT safe. It is a thrill of huge MPH per minute... if you can't hack the risks-- don't make it someone else's blame.

The end result of the judgement and why it disgusts me is that this further impacts the sport in that insurance companies will be further curtailing their "coverages" and further defining their "exclusions". Then it all translates into much much much higher costs for all of us in the long run because the track rental fees and basic track insurance costs are and will continue to go through the roof.

Thanks!

Miaugi

IMO...Well said!

Axelrod

Thanks!

The other point that totally disgusts me about the settlement is that PORSCHE PAID TOO !! WTF is wrong with this world?

codename Bil Doe

One point no one has mentioned regarding who is that this was a "settlement". Irregardless of responsibility, what is $2million to porsche relative to their yearly sales? To the track vs. income generated by a nascar event? Think pinto. Cheaper to settle (bull**** lawsuit or not) and let it disappear as quickly as possible, move on.

You have to take complete responsibility for going into a dangerous situation. Even had he been in a fully prepped race car, the passenger (and driver) put himself into a dangerous environment. Even the safest venues have fatalities in racing. It's not a game of blackjack or shuffleboard. Not saying it was, but had the track safety been horrible they shouldn't have stepped onto the track in the first place.

Now back to how to keep this from happening.

FasterIsBetter

It just amazes me that what people are focused on here from this article and the whole incident is (1) tech inspections and (2) Porsche being liable. READ! Read the article. No liability was found on the basis of the tech inspection. The driver was found to be half the entire problem, i.e., 49% liable. Obviously, his failure to handle the car properly was the major contributing factor based on the way the award was apportioned. The track was the other major contributor, i.e., 42% liable. By changing the configuration of the wall to accomodate a playground for kids, of all things, it created an unreasonably dangerous situation, causing a head-on collision with the wall here instead of him hitting in a glancing blow which perhaps they could have survived.

In settlements, sometimes economic issues prevail over principle. It might have been less expensive for Porsche to settle at this point for $350,000 than to keep litigating, go through a trial, appeals, etc., with the attendant testimony about the design defects to this very expensive car and the publicity that might result. It's all about risk/reward analysis. We all know that handling problems with oversteer on the Porsche is a longtime problem. Heck, it killed James Dean 40 something years ago. Knowing that this car had these problems and knowing they were not being sold to professional drivers, the argument goes that Porsche either should have fixed the problem or installed the technology it had available to control the problem.

But, the bottom line here is that the bulk of the responsibility here rests with the driver of the Porsche. We should all keep that in mind when we take to the track.

And, don't assume that those releases you sign and everyone else signs will protect you. As noted in the article, many states like Virginia and New York have laws that make those releases ineffective. Next time you go to Watkins Glen, remember that. You cause an accident, you get sued. And because you are on the track, your auto insurance won't protect you. Just something to think about.

bowmanized

Here is the kicker. It was a parade lap.

Coc5

Didn't Porsche get sued years ago in Kali for a similar issue. Selling High Performance cars without training the new owners? The new Car owners were crashing out if I remember correctly.

parkerracing

Porsche has been building cars with snap oversteer since Herr Doctor made the first one. That's part of the mystique and challenge in driving one well. A wallet large enough to buy a 300k car doesn't guarentee compitence behind the wheel.

I've seen a Viper wreck 300' off the dealers lot and a Mini Cooper flip at Bridgehampton on the first half lap. Everybody drives but very few drive well enough to test the limits of these types of cars.

You have to feel for the family of the passenger though. /:\

allanlaw

To the contrary, Tom. The problem is if the organizers provide for strong inspections and then don't enforce the rule, or even worse, involve themselves in the inspection process (I saw that happen at an event in Portland, OR and couldn't believe it). As I told clients for many years (member of the CA bar for 37 years), it's better not to get involved in some process at all than to get involved in a half-*** fashion. The track groups I'm involved with provide for self-inspection only, AND do not provide official timing to retain the HPDE aspect of the event.

I don't think we can make generalities from this particular case, other than track insurance premiums will be going up and organizers should pay attention to how entry to the track is handled. We have made a BIG DEAL during the drivers' meetings that drivers entering the track MUST stay off-line until the first turn - of course, the layout allows us to do this (at Willow Springs) easily.

allanlaw

Hey, let's start a franchise - I want the SoCal territory.

TeddyFreddy

From the article: "he is hopeful that Porsche and other manufacturers will never again build a supercar without electronic stability control".

Right. Tell that to Chrysler/Dodge
The 2008 Viper is a law suit waiting to happen.

On the other hand I firmly believe that no amount of electronics will save an untrained driver in a 600 HP car.
The problem of drivers/owners with way more money than skills will stay.

0Randy@DRM

Doesn't every club, track, sport have a "ok to die" thing you sign before you get put into harms way??? I guess signing your name doesn't mean much anymore.

Randy