I am for the family in filing, forget the money, they want answers, and this is the only real method of the getting to the who, what, when, where, how and why their loved one died. I am for the process, the end of money in this suit is not the ultimate goal. I could be entirely wrong, but you asked, I answered.

Smarty, I am +1 for your answer here!

I agree that people sue to much in this country and most of the time for all the wrong reasons. As an event promoter we insure to the max and cover anyone involved with the event in anyway shape or form. My family is even named on the insurance to protect them. People die in extreme sports and I agree its a face of life. In this case I do think it was a unnecessary death. You cannot take someone to court and say why did they die and for what reason. At least I don't think you can. People need to be held accountable for actions taking leading up to the death. I believe and hope that's what the case is here.

How much risk can you take out of a race where machines are going 150mph on an unpredictable track like water?
Everything is risk, every breath you take is a better chance of getting a heart attack or getting cancer. Everytime you leave your driveway you could die, should we sue the state because they built the roads. Participating in a race is a voluntary action not mandatory and not something you need to sustain life. You can not take risk out of everything and taking risk out of things can only go so far. Whats next taking risk out of combat, lets sue the ammo makers for every soldier that dies. No its a part of life. Do we sue the store for selling alcohol to somebody who then DUI's and kills? This behavior has to stop all it does it raise insurance premiums and puts more laws in place for the rest of us.

Like others have said use the money to make awareness, create better safety products, and educate people. Or use money to create schoarships to educate people. With that said I hope the case gets thrown out.

I do have a son and yes I've lost people close to me

I will say it again I would fight for change not for money
these LAW SUITs are always about money and at the end they do not donate the money to a cause that helps to solve the problem

by the way have you ever been involved in a lawsuit over a wrongful death? well I have so I think I come to this conversation a little better informed om this subject

I know you have been involved in a previous suit. I have not. I have read yours over and over and so I understand where you are coming from. This lawsuit is about possible safety negligence on SBI's part. Totally different from your suit. Your suit seems like it was crappy deal and it sucks.

What was the Gieco vrs SBI suit about?:confused:

Perfect.

I call bull ****. Take the risk and make sure your family is covered before you do it.

Marc, you explain about my kid, doctors, misdiagnosis and cancer with a 14 year old and no law suit brought.

They are human. Doctors, racers, school crossing guards. Mistakes are made.

Point the finger at me if I die on a poker run or simply testing a boat for speed shame on me.

Stop the suit. It is greed.

I wish the rest of the world thought like you and I Pat.:)

I think so.

They are human. Doctors, racers, school crossing guards. Mistakes are made.



I have to say that the above sentance hits the nail on the head. This is so true and it can't be overlooked. We all know that the issue hear is how long it took for the divers to get to the people in the boat.

Who's at fault? What is the appropriate amount of recovery time? ETC.

This does not seem like an appropriate case to sue, based on the "assumed risks" of the people willing to risk there lives in the first place. This is just my opinoin.

may i ask how you know that?

Doesn't it strike you odd that a lot of people who are actually participating in or facilitating offshore racing in this country are for this lawsuit? Does it dawn on you that maybe we know a little more about what has gone on and would like to see it stopped once and for all? Even though the possibility exists that it could damage the sport which we collectively have worked on for years? I mean it's nice to hear from guys that raced decades ago, and it's awesome to hear from poker run promoters and participants, input from all sides is super. But please, pay attention to who is defending (for what reason I have no idea, since this is gonna happen and things will get sorted out) this lawsuit and maybe, just maybe stop knee jerking that lawsuits are bad and let this happen. If it clears SBI, yippee, if not and SBI folds, then Karma is a b!tch. As for the "sh!t happens" defense, yes it does, but if some cheap bastard won't pay for a 4" pipe the sh!t ends up in your basement, where it can kill you :poopoo:

Ted.....don't hold back now. :D

With all due NO respect to you, I call Bull chit.

You are something else.

Well i can only suspect since it hasnt happend wher i had a loved one effected that i would have to consider a suit but Active Pat has and he has taken the high road so I will defer to him on this HE had a case and DID NOT SUE Not everyone thinks about a free ride

Yes you can ask

I got calls from participants and local law informent that were telling me that they got a cal from (place name here), that they were calling for "Information" regaurding the accident.

I recognized a few of the names that they shared

Doesn't really matter what this person would do or that person would do, whether it be for large money or no money,this family has made its decision to proceed as is their right.

Seems to me your agenda is with SBI and not with racing

I am sure we can find as many racers that are NOT interested in the suit going forward. They are having a meeting in Miami this week with racers and promoters to see what can be done going forward (Ted are you going to this) This is about solutions not about suing

Contrary to Phantoms statement there are many similarities to our accident (yea it was a poker run not a race) and in the end the settlement was over 8 million dollars and none of that money went to make poker runs safer. I attended a number of meetings in Florida with participants, racers and promoters trying to make our events safer. I am not sure enough was resolved and I know that PRA is still holding the annual meetings.

I will continue to say it. Change will come from the racers and promoters working for change and making the sport better, not from lawyers suing, especialy sponsors of an event. Tell me how that is making the sport better

By the way I not only promoted poker runs but I put on a couple of boat races as well, and my ex wife was a risk manager for the APBA Silver Cup Series back in the day. I know about the safety standards and how some times they are overlooked or ignored and they continued to need to be managed in order to remain safe

If you want answers then work with local law enforcement and Coast guard. Trust me this lawsuit will only bring change to a few peoples bank accounts Hopefully the heighten awareness will now get some things changed by those directly involved in the sport not by people looking for money

This is true. My opinion is it is just plain wrong. But you are correct it is the family's right (Did i just agree with cat?) LOL

It is just unfortunate that thsi is chipping away at sponsors and the sport in general

This will piss everyone off but I would submit. Who is holding the family responsible for letting there family member race? (If we are going to hold everyone responsible)I asked this question in a deposition meeting and got a glazed over look from a room of lawyers in our law suit.

If the suspicion is that the organization has been running things sub standard then why are you letting your loved one race? Oh yea because that is what he loved to do !!! Well then, they knew the risk, signed a waiver and went racing end of story! Work at a better sport using lessons learned.

Remember Jack Carmody? When Jack died change came to canopy boat regulations sad it took his death but many changes happened after that. It did not totally solve the problem but helped.

This should be discussion about how to get better at the sport I am done arguing I have had my say and some agree and some do not. We can guess all day but apparently a suit is initiated and we will see the fall out in the future. God bless our friends who have perished and I hope we have learned and make things better going forward

What ORG. are you with OPA?:7160:

No, I agree with you that it is going to chip away......no doubt.

That would have happened somewhat suit or no suit I think.

I foresee this hurting Poker Runs more than racing in the end.

I used to drag race in the 80's. Held a Pro Stock licence in both NHRA and IHRA. As a racer I saw allot of situations good and bad. But the final call to put that car down the track was mine and mine alone even though sometimes you knew the situation was less than desireable. But as the racer the call was mine. That being said my question is who decided to push that boat so fast that day in less than desireable conditions to make it flip like that? Just my .02 IN racing there are no gaurentees. parts are modifided beyond safe standards, pushed to limits beyond thier capacity, and all done in places where safty is less than desireable, that is what fuels the racer the thrill taking the chance. And the chance you take is with your life. Its sad what happened but I'm sure they were all very smart men and knew just what they were getting into, but it was a choise they made of their own free will.

Pretty much said it all

If SBI doesnt meet your safety standards. all get together form a group and dont race their events until safety measures are put in place. Racing in their events is saying that what their offering meets your standards. why would that be any different today than decades ago.

In fact it eliminated a poker run (and all the charity it produced over a long period of time) just like this will eliminate boat racing in Key West and everyone with an agenda against SBI will no longer have to worry about safety cause there will be no need for safety sitting at home. That is till a drunk runs into their house and someone sues Budwieser

NK

Amen to this quote.

NK

There's one common theme; everyone not in agreement on the suite keeps pointing the finger at SBI.

Is it SBI, the racers, pit-crew, team owner, a sum of all parts? No one really knows the answer to this and it's all just BS rumors and speculation on the internet.

http://www.autoracing1.com/MarkC/001119Lawsuits.htm

A very good read on racing lawsuits. Also all the experts should also quit stating their opinions as fact.

Official, this thread is dumber the second time. It's like watching my kids argue over who is right. Except when they don't know, they don't make something up.

But if in fact that "decision" was influenced by false information provided by the racing organization, does that not swing the pendulum somewhat?

Cant people be,lured into "a false sense of security"? Do racers have to make sure on their own that all safety personell are properly certified and trained or is it reasonable to believe that is the responsibility of the promoter?

This is an interesting quote from what you attached

"we expect that these cases will be settled out of court and never go to trial because the insurers, sanctioning bodies, and track operators do not want to have any legal precedents set in cases such as this."

It is what happend at our suit and I suspect the SBI deal as well will end in a settlement. Not a settlemnt of change but a settlemnt of MONEY

It is never about an award it is about a settlement

I see what your saying. but in racing situations their is no security, and yes you need to be responsible for your own safety. As grown adults you need to make the decision wether or not the event is to dangerous for you. Im not saying that their doesnt need to be changes. Safety needs to be the number one concern, but it has to be the responsibility of every body, most importantly the racer. these are smart men participating in these event's im sure nobody talked them into anything, they knew what they were doing along with the risk. the lack of safety was very well known to everybody. This is just my opinion and im sure everbody else has their own.

Lead to believe there's a false sense of security? Really?

Does anyone actually read the waiver and release forms when they sign up to do a race or poker run event? I doubt it....:party-smiley-004:

Does Florida have limitations to the percentage of the award that a trial attorney can receive? Just curious.

I do not know the answer to that, I am licensed in NJ. Sorry I could not answer that for you.

On a different point, real answers to most of the factual questions will be found in the discovery process. Until those answers are provided let the bullsh*t continue.

I am done in this thread.

What is being questioned is whether or not the sanctioning body did what it said it was going to do.
If SBI did everything they were supposed to, then all will be fine. (They should have disclosed it sooner to prevent this, perhaps.)
However, if they misled people and did NOT provide what they promised, then in reality the racers were not making an informed choice and that does cause a problem.
All racers know the inherent risks and that is not what is being questioned. What is in question is whether they had everything that they were expecting.

The best way I can sum up my feeling is with this synopsis.
People die everyday in car accidents. Safety features have been improved to reduce this risk, however it still happens. Now, you may die even in an airbag equipped car and there should be no reason to sue the manufacturer . However, if the car was supposed to be equipped with air bags and they were not installed.... then we there is a legitimate reason to file a suit.

Tom I agree with your example with one exception

In the real world, had that car accident happened the attorneys would sue the car manufacturer, the steering wheel manufacturer, the air bag manufacturer, and the car dealership that sold the car (even if they had no reason to believe the air bags were not installed) And if the car had been used on a tv commercial and sold due to the customer seeing that commercial the people who made the commercial will be sued! It is just so fricking wrong

My ex was sued in Michigan when a double bottom gasoline tanker skidded through a red light and hit our car and two others and killed the passenger in one of the cars. The tanker and trailer exploded and basically burned everything in sight. By way of a miracle my ex escaped the inferno by driving out with all four tires aflame.
Every vehicle owner in the accident was sued along with many vehicle component suppliers.

Don't want to start a major argument, but do you know how many ways I could make contact with some one and no one would know it's me? I got "contacts" all the time form people "no affiliated " with some one else, and at the end of the day it was his/her son that called.
Anyrate. Just a few questions, (sorry if it's answered before) Why file in Broward? I thought Joey was still alive when he got out of the boat. (I seem to remember reading somethnig about injuries and he was breathing) not sure. This drowining just sounds fishy.