trev0006

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:
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/content/carrera

Original story:
http://www.knbc.com/news/4562562/detail.html

phil2

CLpower

This is really tough for me as I had met Ben a few times. I can't believe it all ended like this. Atleast his wife and child will be able to move on w/o the constant reminder created by this retarded lawsuit (I could understand suing the track as they were clearly at fault, but getting 50% of the suit comming from Ben's estate is complete bullshit IMO)

Zippee

I agree and disagree.

The track was clearly at fault-but moreso was the club for not inspecting before the activity started or for accepting the track in that condition.

On the other hand the driver took a poorly prepared car and drove it badly-looks like he was over his head in the Carrera. IMO his negligence was a part of the cause cause of the accident and his estate is liable.

fsttyms1

bad lawsuit if you ask me.

nokiaman

sad story

oonowindoo

just like majority of our lawsuits... a theive can sue the homeowner if he get injured while breaking into their home.....

Sad Story though.

RMATIC09

Why is that in red?


Sad story, sucks it had to end that way. (the crash)

03silvertypeS

This is a sad story and like most accidents, could have been and should have been prevented. I do understand why they split the settlement out the way they did, with the driver's estate and the track owners/event organizers taking the majority of the loss since they were most at fault. The bottom line here, is the driver should not have been driving the car at the time of the accident. The driver did not complete the mandatory inspection and the car should not have been on the track. He also never had control of the car. If I spun my car out 3-4 times, I don't think I'd be letting passengers in and going for another run. The track design was absolutely pathetic, and the owners should have restored the track to its normal design before allowing this event to occur. The event organizers should have never let him run his car. In order to protect themselves, they should have made sure each driver had documentation and proper inspections completed. As far as Porsche and the Ferrari driver go, Porsche screwed themselves by giving two different stories. Bottom line is, the car would've been more safe with PSM. The Ferrari driver, should've given it more gas, but at the same time, because of the track design, he was probably hesitant since he couldn't see if anyone was coming or not.

Either way, there were a lot of people responsible for this accident and unfortunately, two people died who should still be here today.

iTimmy

What a shame, I hate seeing things come to that.

fsttyms1

I dont even go along with that. No one forced him to go to the track. Your at your own risk there. I dont like the way this system always has to have someone at fault. Its unfortunate but Shit does happen. When i go to the track i understand that! It is very unfortunate that 2 people died.

Bdog

It sucks that two people had to die, but with Tracy Rudl suing everybody for this and Ben's estate having to pay her $2 million is ridiculous IMO. Yes, Ben was the driver and for reasons beyond his ability he lost control due to another car entering the track, he and his passenger Cory Rudl died. Cory took just as much responsibility as Ben by riding in the car on a track at high speeds.

CLpower

The CGT was in perfect condition. There was nothing wrong w/ it. Oversteer is a part of it's natural setup. Go to any track event w/ high powered cars and you'll see a number spin out (including ones w/ traction control)

The car had only spun out at small tight turns that day. The only reason it lost control in this incident was because the ferrari entered the track

SiGGy

You mean the Ferrari entered the track and the driver of the CGT over compensated and lost control...

IMO this is just another stupid lawsuit.

Although blame really goes to the track and it's design. It's not really setup for amatuers. However the guys running around it should have been *WELL* aware of the entrance in the straight and been ready for cars coming out of it... Especially knowing there is a wide range of skill levels driving the track.

And the guy should have never gotten into a car if it didn't want to take the risk of possibly crashing. Especially with a novice driver...

I love how we allow people to not take responsibility for their actions...

vishnus11

What a completely pointless lawsuit with a useless outcome. I really hope the woman suing loses every penny of the money.

Why the heck does Porsche have to pay ANY kind of money. Porsche shouldn't have to pay a dime - if you can't handle the ride, then I suggest you by something else.

This is just like all the folks who spin out their S2000s because the car is setup from factory with inherent oversteer. The fault is not with the car but with the nut behind the wheel.

Zippee

+1.

It's a pity that so many high performance cars have low performance drivers.

CLpower

The ferrari shouldn't have been allowed on the track. From the angle the CGT was comming from it would have been impossible for him to see the Ferrari merging on (keep in mind, they were traveling 130+). (hence why the flagger and ferrari driver were held somewhat responsbile). The flagger hadn't allowed the ferrari on, the ferrari just went.



Just an FYI, Ben wasn't a bad driver, he had tracked the CGT a few times as well as many of his other cars.


Just because you spin a car out doesn't mean you are bad (prior to this tragic accident)....pro's spin out all the time, that's how you learn a cars limits.

coconut

So, who gets all $4.5mil of the settlement?

CLpower

Corey's wife, minus whatever the lawyer takes

AZuser

Sad.

And the winners in the end as usual are the lawyers.

fsttyms1

INSPIRE 32V

iTrader: (1)

he took the car to the track and the outcome was he died. why is anybody suing anyone anyways????

SiGGy

Never said he was a bad driver; sorry if I implied that. I was just saying he's an amateur on a professional track... For all I know he could have been the best driver there.

Ya, I'd say the Ferrari was 100% at fault if that's the case...

stright-(paint)balling

exactly i used to have a 91 CRX Si i used to SCCA Pro Solo2 autocrossed. my insurance agent flat out told me if you crash it at the track you are liable to fix it. which i accepted and took that chance. nothing body wise messed up it was usually mechanical failure if anything happened.

if the right protocols were followed it's just part of racing. if the track didn't follow the right protocols(like no helmets, no restraints,etc,etc) then yes they are idiots.
For example when Dale Sr died at Daytona back in '01 did Mrs. Earnhardt sue Daytona, GM, and Sterling Marlin for causing that accident . no, it's just racing.
a lot of these race tracks and strips are closing or SEVERELY reduceing hours of operation due to idiots sueing like this dude's wife.

MTVtec

Why does Porsche have to pay anything at all?? Complete bullshit...

stright-(paint)balling

cause her lawyer like Johnny Cochran and could get cash out of anyone.
this is the type of lawyer if you got a paper cut she'd have this ass bag sue the paper maker.

CLpower

this isn't hte first time porsche has had to dish out money for one of their cars causing accidents due to snap oversteer. They had a number of lawsuits back in the "widow maker" days (930 Turbo)

TheMirror

The items that stand out to me:

The problem with the pit-out design was that it brought the drivers onto the track in the middle of the straightaway and the pit-out driver’s view of the straightaway was completely blocked by a guardrail, so the driver had to rely entirely on the flagger when entering.
Pit out was in the middle of a straight, on the racing line apparently, and the drivers entering the track had no view of oncoming traffic???

The wall had been placed closer to the track than its original position, in order to enlarge the area behind it for use as a children’s play area during an earlier NASCAR race.
How the track staff and event organizers allowed this configuration to stand is beyond me.


To avoid collisions, cars entering the track were required to move to the right side as soon as possible. However, at this event, cars were entering the track and staying on the left side.
Unbelievable. Drive onto the track blind, then hurry your way across the racing line to the other side. Professionals wouldn't stand for that, much too dangerous. And we're talking about amateurs here....

At a previous event, the FOC President and organizer had been warned by one of their vehicle certifiers that he believed that something was wrong with the handling of Keaton’s car and it should not be allowed to run. They let it into that event anyway, and it spun out three to four times—one time the event organizer was even on board and became nauseous.
FOC is on the hook here. They never should have allowed this car to run, especially considering how many times it spun at a prievious event. Someone mentioned in an earlier post about how pros spin out all the time. Well, not 3-4 times in one day and we're not talking about professionals here.

Keaton was warned about the handling problems with the CGT, ignored his mechanic’s advice, and invited Rudl for a ride without mentioning the problems.
For everyone who says Rudl was just as responsible as Keaton, did you read the statement above?

I'm about as rigid as they come when it comes to lawsuits, I firmly believe that the world is what it is, a dangerous place. Frivilous lawsuits drive me nuts. In this case though, I would have sued too....just like Rudl's wife. For all you haters out there that think she sucks for going legal on people, would you still feel that way if it was your girlfriend in the car with Keaton instead of poor Cory Rudl?

CLpower

There were no problems w/ bens car, the twichiness, etc is how it comes from the factory. Watch any CGT videos, etc of these cars on the track


Hell, Leno almost killed himself in one as well