Man who lost leg at rally gets €200,000

homer simpson

Just seen this on newstalk,Don't know what to make of this TBH....

newstalk wrote:

A man who had to have his leg amputated after being struck by a car while filming the Galway International motor rally has been awarded €200,000.
25-year-old Blaine Murphy sued Co. Galway Motor Club, the Irish Motorsport Federation and the Motor Sport Ireland Safety Team arising from the collision on February 5th 2005.
Murphy was filming the motor rally on his camcorder on a stretch between Gort and Loughrea when he was struck by a Honda Civic that came off the road.
The camcorder kept running and he could be heard screaming with pain and shock.
He suffered severe compound fractures to his left leg which had to be amputated.
In this action he alleged negligence by the events organisers.
But Mr. Justice Brian McGovern found he had recklessly exposed himself to danger in sitting by a blind crest near a ramp and was two-thirds responsible for his injuries.
The danger he said should have been obvious.
He did find that the organisers had a duty of care towards spectators and he awarded the 25-year-old just under €200,000.

source


I suppose its a good thing the judge said " he had recklessly exposed himself to danger in sitting by a blind crest near a ramp and was two-thirds responsible for his injuries" but still i think it might have re-precautions now when clubs are looking to get insurance in future, therefore putting entry fee's ect up!

homer simpson

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Who sits by a blind crest near a ramp?? Darwin award stuff if you think about it.

He was actually standing on the wall of a bridge, the bridge was the ramp! The mind Boggles...

Its hard to know what effect it will have on motorsport now though, Ireland has one of the best safety records in the sport believe it or not, got to a rally in Spain or France and you'll see what i mean. Will insurance premium's go up? The already strict safety officers will they be stricter? and worse of all will every tom dick and harry who broke a nail now come out of the woodwork and sue?

Only thing is he did loose a leg in fairness, was due some compo but he said initially he wanted to start a plumbing business, and couldn't after the accident, but alas he bought a new auto skyline shortly after recovering, and has been seen diffing in videos (although thats neither here nor there), so why didn't he start the company with the money he paid for his new auto skyline!

wobbles

I dont think he deserves anything to be honest. He was in a dangerous position with no escape route if he needed to run. He put himself in that position, no one else. He was videoing the rally and would not have been aware of his surroundings as well as he should. Ive videoed a lot of rallys in the past, and you do not get the same sense of speed through the viewfinder than you do with the naked eye. The car would be on you before you had time to react.

Whats this going to mean to rallying in Ireland? Well it sets a prescident that will have far reaching consequences. Unless this gets appealed and overturned, i fear for rallying in Ireland as we know it. First of all, insurance premiems are going to skyrocket now, hitting all rally drivers in the pocket. This alone will mean motorclubs wont be able to run events as it will be just to expensive to insure. The events that do run will see a large increase in entry fee (further reducing entry numbers).

Clubs will have to be very strict on spectator safety (even more so than they are at the moment, which to be fair they are excellent. This was a freak accident). More marshals will be required to man the stages. They will have to be spread along the stages (not just where theres junctions) to stop idiots like that guy standing in dangerous places. Its already difficult enough to get enough marshals so stages will be lost, or the format changed from 3x3 stages to 2x3 or more single stage events.

Finally finding a route is going to be far more difficult. What farmer is going to let spectators stand on his property. If anything were to happen he would be accountable would he not? Clubs have enough trouble as it is.

Sorry for the rant but this will change the sport i love. Rallying may have been able to survive this with little ill effects back in 05 or 06 when the money was flowing, but now, everyone is suffering. Entrys are down, rallys getting cancelled and now this. Im afraid the good old days are gone and may never return.

se conman

Bloody disgraceful , clubs cannot charge spectators for stage access but still have to be completely responsible for them.We are one of very few countries where adults are not responsible for their actions.

De Hipster

The judgement and the level of the award are astounding. The incident was attributed 66.6% to the guy himself & he gets €200k which suggest if he were 100% innocent he could expect a minimum payout of €600k.

The MI 'Green' Yearbook outlines Competitor (and officiating persons - including marshals etc) Insurance payouts are defined as follows:

The Benefits payable under the IRDS (Irish Rally Drivers Scheme) scheme are as follows:
DEATH, PERMANENT TOTAL DISABLEMENT, LOSS OF ONE OR TWO LIMBS, LOSS OF SIGHT OF ONE OR TWO EYES: up to € 125,000

TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABLEMENT: 70% of weekly wage up to max. €500 per week (applies after 4 week deferment period).

The Temporary Total Disablement benefit (70% of weekly wage up to maximum €500 per week after a 4 week deferment period) has been extended to provide a benefit of €250 per week for up to 26 weeks for medical expenses, for those not in gainful employment.

Therefore as a contributory factor to his own fate the payment (although not applicable at insurance levels as he was not officiating) seems grossly disproportionate, unfair and does indeed set a precident for future suing of clubs, organisors, landowners, volunteers and competitors by unpaying spectators in the future.

Very serious issue for Motorsport in Ireland.

280special

While i fell sorry for what this guy went through, frankly he shouldnt have got a bean ! He knew what he was doing, he knew he was placing himself in danger, so therefore if something happens and it was not due to someone else acting like a fool it's is his own responsability.

The big problem here will be the effect on insurance premuims, we all know that even the biggest providers need little excuse to bump up premiums and this may well happen to Irish Rallying with the subsequent effect on entry fees and entry numbers.

mikemac

When I first read it I figured he was working with the organizers. So he was filming the rally and working for the organizers in the same way the marshals work for the rally.
So maybe he was ordered to take that spot

But no, he was just an ordinary spectator and chose a stupid position.
Shouldn't have got a cent imo

And as said, if I were a farmer and a rally in the area, I'd be terrified of people on my gates and walking on my land
Quite easy to fall off a gate realy and if you fall backwards, it's head first to the ground.

Robbo

feelingstressed wrote: »

And as said, if I were a farmer and a rally in the area, I'd be terrified of people on my gates and walking on my land
Quite easy to fall off a gate realy and if you fall backwards, it's head first to the ground.

Of course the Occupiers Liability Act of 1995 was mainly a sop to mollify farmers fearful of imaginary litigation of this nature. Unless the farmer you have in mind has built Punji traps on his land, all fears are in his head.