Injured spectators planning to sue DIS

wolfcub

wolfcub

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Three spectators injured by the wreck at Daytona International Speedway have contracted with the personal injury law firm of Morgan and Morgan, and four more have made appointments, firm founder John Morgan said Monday. Morgan said of the three under contract, one has a broken leg and another has a head injury. He was checking with his firm on the third person's injuries. None of the injuries of those seeking legal help with the firm were life-threatening, he said. A Speedway attorney said he would not comment on possible litigation. The potential legal fight to come will involve the "assumption of risk" when someone attends a sporting event, whether it's a race at the Speedway or a basketball game with players driving toward the hoop, said Morgan of Ponce Inlet, whose firm has offices in four states. "When you go to a sporting event, if you are underneath the basket that's where your seat is and Shaquille O'Neal comes after a loose ball and dislocates your shoulder, you sat there knowing that was a risk," Morgan said. But Morgan said in the case of the Speedway fans, they expected the fence to keep them safe when Kyle Larson's car slammed into the wall near the finish line of the NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 on Saturday. The car broke apart, spraying a car tire and debris through a 22-foot grandstand fence into the crowd. At least 28 fans were injured.(in part from the Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-26-2013)
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I think we all knew this was coming but seriously, if you sit your arse in front of a chain link catch fence, should you not have some responsibility to know that if a car hits it (as has happened in the past) that there is a chance you couls sustain serious injury??!!! :cuckoo:
 
I don't agree with it but it was bound to happen. I look at it as similar to sitting in the lower box seats down the first- and third-base lines at a baseball game. You HAVE to know there's a chance of being hit by foul balls and broken bats. To think otherwise is naive.
 
Here we go again. nascar sets the speeds and defines the racing, the tracks host those races and both entities make a ton of money. Some of that money buys insurance to compensate people who get injured.
 
It's a formality sometimes. The company intends to pay but a lawsuit has to be filed against them for insurance purposes or other reasons before they can. Fender's right - they have plenty of money and insurance, there's no way they won't be paying something.
 
Part of the reason that cars and tracks are so much safer now than the old days is not just concern for safety and keeping drivers/crews/fans alive but also as part of risk management dictated by civil lawsuits.
 
How many times have we heard "uncomfortable with speeds approaching 200 mph" "worst fear is a car into the stands"? over the years from Nascar? Don't forget many people have been recently injured by debris.
The attorneys will play the assumption of risk card and fail. It's all be settled quickly and quietly out of court with iron clad confidentiality agreements.
 
Bobw said:
How many times have we heard "uncomfortable with speeds approaching 200 mph" "worst fear is a car into the stands"? over the years from Nascar? Don't forget many people have been recently injured by debris.
The attorneys will play the assumption of risk card and fail. It's all be settled quickly and quietly out of court with iron clad confidentiality agreements.
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Like the attorney said, no suits have been filed. He's collecting info and will then probably talk to the parties and try to come to a settlement. If my leg was crushed, I wouldn't give a sheet what the back of my ticket says. I would want fair compensation from the people making billions putting on the show that they freely admit puts fans at risk.
 
I got mixed feelings about the whole thing. I am not crazy about ambulance chasers, but at a minimum all of their medical expenses should be covered. As far as I can tell Nascar has reached out to the families and tried to do the right thing.
End of the day: I expect an out of court settlement that even pays for some pain and suffering, but lots of non disclosure clauses. There are probably two agendas: take care of the injured righteously, and to take care of public relations righteously.
I don't think that makes Nascar a monster, it is neaunced; a person with a good character can be heartbroken over the experienced pain and hurt of the injured, and still worried about their legal responsibilities, while still being ethical.
It would take a novel or book to adress it all.
 
Greg said:
I got mixed feelings about the whole thing. I am not crazy about ambulance chasers, but at a minimum all of their medical expenses should be covered. As far as I can tell Nascar has reached out to the families and tried to do the right thing.
End of the day: I expect an out of court settlement that even pays for some pain and suffering, but lots of non disclosure clauses. There are probably two agendas: take care of the injured righteously, and to take care of public relations righteously.
I don't think that makes Nascar a monster, it is neaunced; a person with a good character can be heartbroken over the experienced pain and hurt of the injured, and still worried about their legal responsibilities, while still being ethical.
It would take a novel or book to adress it all.
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I would be pissed if uninjured fans started suing for mental anguish, even if a family member were injured.
 
It's all good , but everything , including insurance , keeps putting the cost of racing up. I hope that they don't start suing individual teams .
 
FenderBumper said:
I would be pissed if uninjured fans started suing for mental anguish, even if a family member were injured.
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Not a trick question but has anyone sued based on mental anguish. I agree with you for the most part.
 
ted@economy said:
It's all good , but everything , including insurance , keeps putting the cost of racing up. I hope that they don't start suing individual teams .
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Especially with an engine laying in the fence with the big bright letters on top of the engine valve covers that read "HENDRICK".
 
FenderBumper said:
Like the attorney said, no suits have been filed. He's collecting info and will then probably talk to the parties and try to come to a settlement. If my leg was crushed, I wouldn't give a sheet what the back of my ticket says. I would want fair compensation from the people making billions putting on the show that they freely admit puts fans at risk.
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And the fans who flock to the track knowing full well they are placing themselves in harms way have no culpability? This is a totally screwed up world we live in thanks to the bottom feeding attorneys.
 
Smoke14 said:
And the fans who flock to the track knowing full well they are placing themselves in harms way have no culpability? This is a totally screwed up world we live in thanks to the bottom feeding attorneys.
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If you were one of the injured, I guarantee you would be singing a different tune. You wouldn't care about knowing the risk, you would still want something for getting injured. Lets get real here, nobody expects the risk that you're taking to be a dang car flying up at you.
 
breatheoflife said:
If you were one of the injured, I guarantee you would be singing a different tune. You wouldn't care about knowing the risk, you would still want something for getting injured. Lets get real here, nobody expects the risk that you're taking to be a dang car flying up at you.
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You are wrong. I would not be lining up to file suit knowing full well the risk I took. I have worked at the local tracks for years and understood my risks as well as those around me.
 
Smoke14 said:
You are wrong. I would not be lining up to file suit knowing full well the risk I took. I have worked at the local tracks for years and understood my risks as well as those around me.
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So an accident happens at a race. You become paralyzed the rest of your life. The accident will put a strain on your family for the rest of your life, mentally and financially.

Sitting in the wake is a billion dollar corporation, that perhaps could have done things differently to ensure your safety.

You're just gonna sit back and say it's OK, you knew it could happen? I highly doubt it, no matter how much you claim differently. But to each his own.
 
breatheoflife said:
So an accident happens at a race. You become paralyzed the rest of your life. The accident will put a strain on your family for the rest of your life, mentally and financially.
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Just curious, what was the extent of the injuries of each of the people taking part in this lawsuit? If it were the situation that you described then I can see someone taking action. Other than that?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Just curious, what was the extent of the injuries of each of the people taking part in this lawsuit? If it were the situation that you described then I can see someone taking action. Other than that?
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I haven't heard. My scenario was very much hypothetical, but seeing as how some were in critical condition, that would be enough for me.
 
breatheoflife said:
I haven't heard. My scenario was very much hypothetical, but seeing as how some were in critical condition, that would be enough for me.
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This is what I don't get. Everyone knows there were critical and life threatening injuries, and some assume this is some petty action to cash in. The disclaimer on the back of the ticket goes a long way to prevent petty lawsuits. The larger claims won't be handle by nascar themselves, they will be handled by the insurance company and their lawyers.
 
breatheoflife said:
So an accident happens at a race. You become paralyzed the rest of your life. The accident will put a strain on your family for the rest of your life, mentally and financially.

Sitting in the wake is a billion dollar corporation, that perhaps could have done things differently to ensure your safety.

You're just gonna sit back and say it's OK, you knew it could happen? I highly doubt it, no matter how much you claim differently. But to each his own.
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Well said.
 
Two more Daytona fans get lawyer: Two more fans injured in the Feb. 23 Nationwide Series crash at Daytona have retained an Orlando, Fla.-based attorney to seek personal injury claims. Attorney Matt Morgan now represents six of the people who were injured when Kyle Larson's car went airborne into the catch fence, sending debris flying into the front-stretch stands on the last lap of the race. At least 28 fans were injured in the wreck. NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation have retained a Miami-based law firm to handle the claims. Morgan said he is working "diligently'' with NASCAR and ISC legal representation -- Cole, Scott & Kissane, Pa. -- to settle the issue without going to trial. Meanwhile, one of the two who had remained at Daytona Beach's Halifax Health in stable condition has been released. According to a hospital spokesman and Twitter, the 14-year-old brother of Becket McGinn was released and had headed home.
 
Doesn't really matter what we think, the injured or the attorneys think, or NASCAR thinks. Only matters what a potential jury of twelve regular folks might think.
 
My neighbors are nor going to sue. NASCAR paid for them to stay on Daytona Beach for 20 days.
 
Law suits do help in safety advancements, but to insure that they are being done for just that,.all excess funds from it should go to charities, not the people. I honestly think though most people see things like this as a cash cow for themselves. Daytona remove the front 80 rows,......put seats in parking lot with big TV's and start charging pay per view for home TV then we will see how ridiculous this stuff is.
 
If it wasn't for lawsuits there might not be a retaining wall or catch fence. Bet you could sell tickets today for a race with no wall or protection of any kind.
 
Contactpatch said:
Law suits do help in safety advancements, but to insure that they are being done for just that,.all excess funds from it should go to charities, not the people. I honestly think though most people see things like this as a cash cow for themselves. Daytona remove the front 80 rows,......put seats in parking lot with big TV's and start charging pay per view for home TV then we will see how ridiculous this stuff is.
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Welcome to the forum CP . Glad to have another viewpoint. It's not politically correct , but I think that the catch fence did a hell of a good job. The car was kept on the outside , the engine unfortunately tore a bit of a hole but didn't get far , and were it not for the total fluke of the tire getting free , we likely wouldn't be still talking about it . Stuff happens , it's not possible to prevent every unforseen event.
 
Rusty34 said:
If it wasn't for lawsuits there might not be a retaining wall or catch fence. Bet you could sell tickets today for a race with no wall or protection of any kind.
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I'd go, but I'll be in the nosebleed section.
 
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