Porsche Carrera GT Crash Settled for $4.5

Carrera GT Crash Settled for $4.5m
The lawsuit was recently settled for a reported total of approximately $4.5 million. The contributions to the settlement were about 49% from the estate of the driver, 41% from the track owners and the event organizers, 8% from Porsche, and 2% from the driver of the Ferrari that was claimed to have triggered the crash.
more details:
Sports Car Market Magazine
Original story:
Two Killed In Crash At California Speedway - News Story - KNBC | Los Angeles

[Cliff Beer]

Unbelievable.

Your track day fees and your insurance for your "dangerous supercar lacking a modern safety device" just got more expensive.

IMHO the second you get on a race track you accept the consequences, including the arguable stupidity of other people. It's an obviously inherently dangerous activity as a result of those outcomes that are foreseeable, as well as those that are not.

[Mr Hardy]

There were some blatant errors though...not least the pit exit system onto the main straight. Porsche shot themselves straight in the foot with their evidence. If I was in a boardroom in Stuttgart, I'd be really worried.

The most interesting part is that they ruled that whilst a regular disclaimer would protect the track owner/event organiser against "ordinary negligence" - it would fail in the event of gross negligence being proven - and now they have a benchmark ruling to decide that in future, at least in California.

Track owners/event organisers do have a duty of care and it's no good hiding behind the disclaimer and caring less. People who go on track days have a right to know that in the track is a) Properly laid out b) properly manned and c) there is adequate medical facilities on hand (although this wasn't a factor in this case).

However, in some ways, this is an almost inevitable result of a hugely powerful (600hp) car in inexperienced hands....

I think the moral of the story is - you can kill yourself Ok, but don't go killing anyone else whilst your driving your favourite dream toy at these kind of events....

[Neal]

Pointless. All the money in the world won't bring back those two people.

[Duncan Potter]

The plaintiffs attorney hopes that the settlement will cause supercar manufacturers to put electronic stability controls on all supercars.

See 1967 Nurburgring GP post above to see some actual driving by actual drivers in actual cars.

I guess I'll be forced to build my own car now.....

[chuck smith]

the attorney walks away with 40 percent, plus all fees associated with the case(expert witness ect.) come out of the plaintifs 60 percent. nice work if you can get it. Of course he feels that" if this verdict saves even one life, it would be worth it", very altruistic.