skaterdave

wondering if some of you internet "lawyers" can answer some basic questions about is sad incident.

first don't the racers sign a release form, thus giving up certain legal rights?

did the canopy fail ? from what the rumors say, the canopy was not damaged, so how did it flood with water ?

the boat should have had full time air (scuba system) and how come that was not used to avoid this ?

i'm not taking sides here, i feel that safety in general for offshore sucks. it was noted in an earlier post about individual teams having their own safety, however i think Geico is the only team currently doing this.

and isn't the $5 mill. ins policy a liability policy ? basically for liability of general public and other bystanders.

Pete280

I guess my question is did SBI provide the level of safety they were contracted to provide? If they told the racers they would have X and did'nt then maybe there is fault.

Yes, I do expect to get paid for my work, I sell equipment that takes raw material and many labor hours to manufacture. I feel that lawyers often prey on grieving families who feel their loved one's death must be someone else's fault.

fountain1fan

. i'm so sorry for joey's family . hate it has come to this .

Lauderdaleboats

This is how the RYA reacted to a fatal powerboat accident in the UK. It appears they accepted that this fatality was preventable. They halted racing to take steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

http://www.mby.com/news/529794/rya-t...circuit-racing

It might have been in the best interest of SBI to at least show on their website that an active inquiry is underway. Also that they are taking steps to possibly avoid a recurrance of Key West in the future.

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

i agree with you ,i also question the safety sbi [provides].as far as lawyers preying on grieving family,i think the family went to the lawyer,not the other way around.also,if no money is awarded,the lawyer will get nothing,at least that is the way it usually works.and as far as the grieving family who feels their loved ones death is someone elses fault,we will just have to wait&see if that is or is not the case.my only hope is that safety gets better.

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

that thread will never die down,it will just get continued to a later date

JROMY

I'm sorry Mr. Allweiss is the laywer here because it diminishes what is being litigated. I wish it were someone else so as to put the BS politics to the side. In my opinion, this lawsuit is entirely justified and necessary, and unlike the typical ambulance chasing BS, may actually save lives in the future. The accidents this year in Key West, while not preventable, certainly never should have lead to death, or even near death. I left the races this year feeling sick to my stomach and disheartened. I don't know if I will even watch next year. These weren't fluke accidents. They were typical accidents that could be expected of any raceboat traveling at the speed they were. The raceboats had structurally non-reinforced canopies, no requirement for full time oxygen, escape hatches that allegedly didn't open, etc. etc. On top of that, from posts on this site, you had rescue boats with no plan for where to take injured, Coast Guard with no clue either, and apparently no ambulance or Medivac helicopter flight (which everyone in KW knows is necessary even if you have a Moped crash). While the crashes would have happened, these deaths were completely preventable. I left sickened from the whole experience and still am. If this ends SBI in Key West, I could honestly care less. It may mean lives are saved. I will miss the races big time, but if they end, I know I will never leave a weekend in paradise with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach knowing that good men, with loving families "died doing what they loved", yet could have easily survived if certain regulations and planning had been in place. If we are going to race, we can do far better than this.

fountain4play

Unfortunately this is a troubling turn of events following the tragedies that occurred during the races at the Key West Worlds. I can’t say that a lawsuit is a total surprise and that’s just based on a hearing some of the stories that were talked about while we were down there in KW after it happened and some of the recent threads.

While I haven’t read it anywhere in an official news release prior to this suit but it’s been commented on in several threads that Joey drowned and there were some saying that they couldn’t get his seat belt straps undone. This maybe hearsay and gossip but if true it’s a very serious situation that needs to be corrected.

Was there a failure of the racing organization to properly have sufficient qualified medical personnel onsite, something with their rescue procedures or just an unfortunate accident that’s the underlying question?

I know that racers are a fraternity and they are very protective of their own, whether it is one of them or the organizations that race with which is understandable to a point. I don’t believe that Mike Allweiss is an Ambulance chasing Lawyer out for the big bucks or to cripple a racing organization. He’s representing a family that is looking for answers, some of which might not turn out to be flattering to the organization that ran this event.

Hopefully some good may come of this lawsuit if it addresses the safety concerns that ultimately put in procedures that could possibly avert this type of accident in the future. As to the much brought up racers’ know the risk and they sign a release…”News Flash” if there is negligence or a failure to have adequate safety for this event these types of releases don’t hold up very well.

What strikes me is the cavalier attitude some people are taking on this event, three racers died down in KW and in my book that’s something that shouldn’t happen.

In watching the Big Thunder crash video the Victory crash immediately came to mind and it’s extremely likely that it was a fatal event for these two drivers.

But I don’t get that feeling with the Page Racing accident; a racer shouldn’t drown with all of the rescue personnel a moments away.

Godspeed - Bob, JT & Joey

36Tango

If the lawsuit is truely about safety in the sport, how about the lawyer and family come out right now and say that 50% of any damages will be donated to doing the proper research and development of better safety equipment and canopy construction. If the biggest hurdle for this development is money, this situation could very well take down that hurdle, and make it safer for all future races. I did not know Joey, but I bet that he would be honored if this was to come out of the tragedy.

If they don't come out with such a statement, it sure seems like, on the surface anyway, that it is more about the money.

C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

Hardly. The IRL/IndyCar had ignored warnings for years that the rules that created "formation racing" would lead to this exact outcome. They got lucky for years, dodging (drivers) deaths in gigantic accidents that lead to spectator deaths, driver paralysis and other career-ending injuries.

Right on the money.

Here are some questions that I will be keen to learn the answers to once the dust settles:

1. Is there a set of consistent safety regulations for each of the various classes?
2. Are these regulation consistently enforced?
3. Did both of the boats involved in fatalities pass these safety inspections in Key West?
4. Do ALL boats have to pass these regulations AT EVERY EVENT?
5. Were ALL the safety crews properly briefed EACH DAY?
6. Is there an INDEPENDENT investigation underway by a group with no affiliations or relation to SBI or any of its members? (IndyCar has appointed an independent group, how about SBI?)
7. Willl there be constructive recommendations as a result of these deaths, and will those recommendations be acted on? (This is the only point that really matters.)