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EYE ON THE INDUSTRY

ASK AN ATTORNEY
With the assistance of the RPM Newsletter and their “Legalert” column, we are offering some answers of oft-asked legal questions from track owners and operators.

QUESTION –
We’ve heard we should be careful of what we say after we have a fan who falls and injures him or herself. Please give us some guidelines.

ANSWER –
Insurers offer these do’s and don’ts. First the don’ts:
1) Don’t accept fault.
2) Don’t promise anything.
3) Don’t say medical bills will be paid.
4) Don’t argue or agree with the victim’s or others about anything.
5) Don’t recommend any medical facility
6) Don’t reflect any attitude, disbelief, impatience, etc.
7) Don’t say that insurance will cover the injury.
8) Don’t leave the victim unattended.

Insurers recommend these do’s:
1) Be respectful and caring, and insure other track personnel as well.
2) Observe and record any facts or circumstances.
3) Ask the person what he/she believed happened and record in his or her own words.
4) Look for any difference between the circumstances you observe and what he/she said, but keep it to yourself and discreetly note it.
5) Note whether the victim is upset or vocal in complaining.
6) Contact security/authorities as necessary so they may secure areas, investigate, and remediate.
7) Complete your insurer’s incident report form.
8) Correct the cause of the fall when you can after attending to the person.
9) If necessary, contact insurer’s claims department and request personal assistance.

QUESTION –
We don’t license our drivers but we would like to do so. They already pay a license fee to a sanctioning group and we worry that if we charge them for a license they’ll race elsewhere. What do you recommend?

ANSWER –
These days, it is important to license drivers. RPM Workshops attorneys recently said it is essential that promoters do so. While licenses can be a revenue source, and an especially valuable off-season income, revenue is not the most important reason to license drivers. It may be becoming prohibitively risky to operate a race track without the binding contractual relationship between drivers and promoters created by the license, so (RPM) Workshops attorneys recommend that every track license drivers. When drivers hold a sanctioning group license, the sanctioning group benefits almost exclusively from the protection afforded by the contract. If promoters want to afford themselves protection in the same way, a track license is necessary. The license is justified despite perceived duplication, and the fee may be set as the promoter wishes. A promoter may charge as little as a dollar, attorneys say, in accordance with common contract law, but certainly promoters are entitled to more, and tracks are justified in charging any reasonable fee.

(Disclaimer: While answers to legal questions have been researched, we do not represent them as legal advice. Because laws vary in different jurisdictions, readers are urged to contact attorneys in their area in all matters. RPM and e-KMI.com assumes no responsibility for actions taken as a result of, or in spite of, answers appearing herein.)

Legal Questions and Answers Courtesy: Racing Promotion Monthly (RPM). To contact RPM – Racing Promotion Monthly, e-mail to editors@racingpromotionmonthly.net or call 920-294-0830.

END

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Telephone: 630-653-7368
Fax: 630-653-2637
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