NASCAR Lawsuit

BobbyFord

BobbyFord

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Not sure if anyone posted this yet.

Family sues NASCAR, Pocono over 2012 lightning death: NASCAR blew off a severe storm warning at the Pocono 400 race until the storm got so bad it had to stop the race, and 6 minutes later a fan was killed by lightning in the parking lot, his family claims in court. Brian Zimmerman was killed by lightning at 5:00pm on Aug. 5, 2012, his widow Marion claims in the Court of Common Pleas. She sued Pocono International Raceway and NASCAR, on Aug. 1. Ten other people were injured by lightning, one of whom sued NASCAR and the Pocono Raceway in July. Zimmerman claims that NASCAR and the Pocono Raceway received a severe thunderstorm warning from the National Weather Service at 4:12pm, but they "did nothing" to stop the race or warn fans until 4:21, when they "attempted to use social media" to warn race fans of the approaching storm. Brian Zimmerman did not have access to social media at the raceway, his widow says. The defendants stopped the race at 4:54pm At 4:59, they used social media again to warn fans to seek shelter. Brian was hit by lightning at 5:00pm and died. In the July lawsuit, Jason Peneck's wife Erin claims her husband suffered "severe and permanent injuries, including, but not limited to, a traumatic brain injury, second degree burns, and dysautonomia."(Courthouse News Service)(8-6-2014)

At what point is a person responsible to get themselves to safety in the presence of inclement weather?
 
As a race fan, if I'm at a race & I see black clouds in the sky while I'm sitting on huge metal bleachers in a wide open area, I'm getting the **** outta there. NASCAR cant be responsible for the lack of common sense by their fans.
 
NASCAR attempted to warn fans via social media.. granted they should have thrown a caution & warned fans via loudspeaker.. but is it NASCAR's fault if Zimmerman didnt have social media?
 
ChexOrWrex said:
NASCAR attempted to warn fans via social media.. granted they should have thrown a caution & warned fans via loudspeaker.. but is it NASCAR's fault if Zimmerman didnt have social media?
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NASCAR and Pocono could've done more than throw out a couple of tweets. I don't know if Pocono has video boards or not (I don't think so) but reportedly the PA system was not used until after the race had already been stopped.
 
FLRacingFan said:
NASCAR and Pocono could've done more than throw out a couple of tweets. I don't know if Pocono has video boards or not (I don't think so) but reportedly the PA system was not used until after the race had already been stopped.
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Very true. I feel bad for the family. Its a horrible deal. But I hope they understand that no amount of money will bring him back.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
As a race fan, if I'm at a race & I see black clouds in the sky while I'm sitting on huge metal bleachers in a wide open area, I'm getting the **** outta there. NASCAR cant be responsible for the lack of common sense by their fans.
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Yep. I don't care how exciting the race is, who's leading or how many laps are left. I'm bookin' it.

This isn't necessarily directed towards the victims, because I don't know what was going through all of their minds, but some people just don't respect nature all that much. Someone I know took a shower during a severe thunderstorm one time. I tried to stop him, but he wasn't hearing it. He was lucky enough to not get electrocuted in there, so of course when he came out, he was like "see, I told you nothing would happen." :rolleyes: No, dude, you were just incredibly fortunate.

The people in this case will probably get something in a settlement if nothing else. I pretty much see the whole thing as an unfortunate tragedy. Hopefully everyone will learn from it.
 
I see stupid lawsuits in healthcare quite frequently. Typically they get settled out of court to avoid the bad press.
 
For any of you here that attend outdoor events..... Do you ever go without checking out the weather? When you see that the weather is changing for the bad, don't you pay a little more attention?

I know when I'm getting ready to go to the race I'm looking at the weather and paying attention to it days in advance. Maybe I'm a weather freak or something but I think that I have at least four or five apps on my phone dealing with weather. A couple that I paid for. I'm always on top of what's going on weather wise. Does that mean I'm not going to get struck and killed by lighting some day? Hell no. It can happen to anyone. It's nobody's fault. It happens.
 
When the bridge collasped at Charlotte I believe victims deserved a settlement. I probably would when car parts land in the stands.

But for the weather I dont think so, I think a fan is completely responsible in those cases. That being said I would respect setting up a donation box up for fellow fans to contribute toward funeral expense and college funds for any dependents etc.... A life was lost and compassion is a good thing even when a victim made a mistake.

Obviously I CAN NOT speak for Poconco (never even been there) but in todays legal world a charitable contribution from them might be regarded as an admission of responsibility or guilt. Seems like the lawyers are often the only winners, and everything has to be absolute.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
For any of you here that attend outdoor events..... Do you ever go without checking out the weather? When you see that the weather is changing for the bad, don't you pay a little more attention?
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Any time I go fishing either at the beach or in the boat - check the weather several times. Any time I have a soccer game - check the weather. I've marched off the field before against coach's wishes because the officials stopped the game to warn about a storm a few miles away. Even last year at a football game the PA came on and warned students about a storm heading in our direction so my friends & I booked it out of the stadium and ran back to the apartment (live less than a mile away from the stadium). Good thing we did...
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I figured getting out of the way of a storm was common knowledge?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I've never been to a track where you could hear the PA system unless the race was stopped.
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There you go. nascar didn't stop the race because it was more important to complete the race. It's real easy to assume those dark clouds way over there aren't putting you in danger, because common sense tells most people nascar wouldn't ever thing of leaving their guests to fend for themselves.

Here we go with personal responsibility, but nascar has no responsibility to keep their fans out of harms way. :rolleyes: I'm positive those same people would be asking why the race wasn't stopped and a proper warning given if it was their loved one trying to learn how to use a spoon again.
 
The NWS suggests that evacuation begin when lightning is within 15 miles and the thunderstorm appears to be moving in, and that the event be suspended when lightning is within 8 miles of the venue. Perhaps they waited until it was too close to take action.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I've never been to a track where you could hear the PA system unless the race was stopped.
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So can we assume that nascar KNEW nobody would hear the warnings if they didn't park the cars first? It's that kind of common knowledge that will get nascar hung in court.
 
FLRacingFan said:
The NWS suggests that evacuation begin when lightning is within 15 miles and the thunderstorm appears to be moving in, and that the event be suspended when lightning is within 8 miles of the venue. Perhaps they waited until it was too close to take action.
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Stop it! Track owners aren't people, so they have no responsibility!
 
NASCAR stopped the show when a camera cable was snapping around in the audience. They cant stop the show for the threat of lightening? Every other outdoor sport does & we know how much NASCAR wants to be like every other sport.
 
So its NASCAR's fault they're too stupid and/or drunk to take cover when a storm is coming? And I say drunk because well....you know alcohol was probably involved.

I may be jumping to conclusions, but seems to me it's their own fault.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
For any of you here that attend outdoor events..... Do you ever go without checking out the weather? When you see that the weather is changing for the bad, don't you pay a little more attention?

I know when I'm getting ready to go to the race I'm looking at the weather and paying attention to it days in advance.Maybe I'm a weather freak or something
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a Larry McReynolds groupie...LOL
 
this is one of the main reasons fans at the track are more of a liability than an asset. They are the main reasons insurance/ticket prices are so high, food and drink at the track, on and on. I was always taught from as long as I can remember, a wee lad, to keep a weather eye lookout for bad weather, and take cover when there is lightning. Blaming some body for getting struck by an act of nature? What's next,suing for a tornado?
 
StandOnIt said:
this is one of the main reasons fans at the track are more of a liability than an asset. They are the main reasons insurance/ticket prices are so high, food and drink at the track, on and on. I was always taught from as long as I can remember, a wee lad, to keep a weather eye lookout for bad weather, and take cover when there is lightning. Blaming some body for getting struck by an act of nature? What's next,suing for a tornado?
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They walk among us.
http://m.stltoday.com/news/local/cr...55a7-bdb1-3bc576c1d35c.html?mobile_touch=true
 
StandOnIt said:
this is one of the main reasons fans at the track are more of a liability than an asset. They are the main reasons insurance/ticket prices are so high, food and drink at the track, on and on. I was always taught from as long as I can remember, a wee lad, to keep a weather eye lookout for bad weather, and take cover when there is lightning. Blaming some body for getting struck by an act of nature? What's next,suing for a tornado?
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We already sue for getting burnt by hot coffee...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald's_Restaurants
 
The way the system is set up, even if the track offers to pay the bills, and IMO they don't need too, but if they did, if the other party has a lawyer involved, the lawyers won't get paid for that. Lawyers get the big bucks for pain and suffering, so somehow this lightning strike has to be the tracks fault.
 
Could NASCAR had reasonably foreseen that someone would be struck by lightning? If so, then they're screwed.

When you hold an event, YOU are responsible for the safety of your guests. You ALWAYS assume liability when you knowingly let someone onto your property.
 
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