GrandPaul (does not use emoticons) Author of the book "Old Bikes" Too many bikes to list, mostly Triumph & Norton, a BSA, & some Japanese "The Iron in your blood should be Vintage"
Insurance has killed much motor and motorcycle racing. My own opinion is why bother? When you enter a race you sign a disclaimer, that disclaimer states that you accept you may die and no-one else is responsible. Spectators should also be informed of the same. That way you don't need insurance dictating what and where you can race.
At the moment as far as i know when you attend a riders briefing prior to a race you are told of the risk, you sign an entrance form which is a disclaimer of sorts. In reality they are not worth the paper they are written on. Some lawyer or another will take up the case and the track or the club or someone will end up forking out fortunes.
I hosted a ride ever yearâŚâŚtalked about it for months before the ride. I consulted two different lawyers about my exposureâŚâŚBOTH told me NOT to do itâŚ..period. But I kept at it for 15 years. Itâs the reason we didnât stop anywhere that served alcohol and I shuttled people from the motel to and from dinner Friday night. ( because it was a group dinner and alcohol was served) BOTH lawyers told me I probably wouldnât have a problem with any of the ridersâŚâŚ.but the problem could be from a spouse that didnât like the motorcycle thing in the first place. Not exactly the same thing as club road racingâŚâŚbut
Similar deal, Sally & I started, planned, and pulled off a charity fundraiser bike show every year for 8 consecutive years in the early 2000s. It was a police-escorted slow parade up the drag to the location (ANYONE could ride ANYTHING, kids had to have a parent riding alongside), then an indoor bike show (free admission), bike games in the parking lot, $1 raffles for all kinds of stuff that we solicited from local eateries, movie house, bowling alley, car wash, and of course all the local bike shops. Only one year at a place we didn't go back to, was alcohol served by the venue. Every year the insurance went up, then the year we had a local stunt group do an exhibition, the rates went thru the roof. The following year we could no longer afford to foot the insurance bill, so that was the end of that.
GrandPaul (does not use emoticons) Author of the book "Old Bikes" Too many bikes to list, mostly Triumph & Norton, a BSA, & some Japanese "The Iron in your blood should be Vintage"
This is exactly the reason Saddleback Park closed down in '84. Worthless waivers, injuries, and a couple deaths resulted in no insurance. Probably other motorcycle venues also...
OK call me an old fuddy duddy- I canât sort, in my mind, road racing modern super bikes on roads that simply were never intended for such. Itâs really kind of a miracle itâs been allowed to go on this long.
Far as I know, most -if not all these road races are historic events. Why not really challenge all comers- make âem race vintage bikes, with a limit on horsepower and size. Allow folks to tweak their vintage bike to the best of their ability. Then game on! Historic event on historic motorcycles! What could be more fun?
Lesya Ukrainka: âHe who has not lived through a storm/does not know the price of strength.â
The next thing would be to cancel the Monaco GP then Melbourne then every other real race on genuine tracks. No, if you want to race you sign a disclaimer and off you go, it's called personal responsibility.
Otherwise we will end up with ovals like the yanks. Ugh..... (Even then most people only watch for the pile-ups.)
When I moved from UK to US I had to get used to the difference in attitudes relating to "accidents" When I left the UK it was still a situation where there it was recognized that there are such things as accidents--- no one at fault, no one to blame-- just one of those things so accept it and get on with life. In the US there is no such thing as an accident. If something happens then look to see who might conceivably have some liability and then sue them. Probably 25% of ads on TV in US are for lawyers seeking to exploit this situation. It all comes down to there being too many lawyers in US (and I say that as one married to a retired New Jersey State judge). So many that they have to scratch around on things such as accidents in order to make a living. I am reminded of a statistic from the 1980s--- when Japan was training ten times as many production engineers as lawyers and the US was training ten times as many lawyers as production engineers. From what I have seen over the last 22 years the US has got worse in this respect and the disease has spread to UK. IMHO a real retrograde step when individuals cannot decide for themselves whether to take the risks involved in an activity that they wish to pursue. So much for individual freedoms! Just my two cents worth of course.
No charge for spectators? It's no wonder they can't afford proper safety fencing. Can't really blame the insurance companies when y'all are crazy enough to race on public roads and allow spectators within mere feet of the track. I guess it seemed like a good idea in 1907 when the average winning speed was 38 MPH.
It is the Lawyers to blame not the insurance companies Not that long ado spectators at anything did so at theeir own risk Now courts have decided that the promotors / track owners are liable for the injuries that idiots manage to inflict upon themselves. I can remember in the 60's speedway heats being delayed while police removed idiots who decided to sit on the safety fence . Every time the steam trains are running some one gets injured by a regular scheduled train trying to get that perfect photo . The quote attributed to Bertrand Russel comes to mind "most people would rather die than than think about the consequences of their actions. An endeavour that way too many manage to succed in doing "
Courts now days rarely throw out cases for damages despite how stupid the injured persons action were . And now days you can get $ 1,000,000,000 for the trauma a broken fingernail causes .
Both my sons are into lawâŚ.one has his shingle and teaches it in Florida and the other is a para legal in Asheville.
LawyersâŚâŚ.fuss all you wantâŚâŚget into legal trouble and you probably wonât fare well going to a plumber for help.
My brother is a lawyer and I've used and appreciated his services over the years, just like I appreciate my accountant and my plumber.
The problems come when you start allowing your lawyers, or accountants, or plumbers to start running your company or your organization, and making decisions and setting policy for it. Seen it happen, left one company over that!
Lannis
I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.
Doesn't help that most of the people making laws are lawyers.
Well, a little bit of an exaggeration. This congress, according to the American Bar Association, has 175 lawyers or 33%. So while a large portion but certainly not most.
Brexit and scandal . The last Northern Irish government has collapsed . the major ruling parties are duty Bound To Rule as partners but the losing party refuses to partner with the winners of the last election results . Northern Ireland currently has no government leadership . government functions continue, sliding sidways , but without executive leadership .
There are larger problems afoot than road races ... and no one is in charge to take responsibility , Blame , Credit , or initiative .
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