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From: roger@felix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Who is Liable??
Message-ID: <253@felix.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-May-84 09:13:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: felix.253
Posted: Wed May  2 09:13:43 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 5-May-84 00:54:25 EDT
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[]

Regarding the Mark Donohue case .....

     As several of you have stated, race drivers generally assume the
     risks involved in racing area fairly high, especially at the 
     level at which Donohue was driving.  Donohue himself is on record
     as having stated to his own press agent the following if he ever
     had a fatal crash:

	"If the engine failed, don't blame the engine, blame me
	for revving the engine too much."

	"If the car fails, blame me for going off the track."

	"And if the tire fails, blame me for going over a curb
	or hitting a curb."

	His press agent then asked, "Suppose you're coming down a
	straightaway and a tire blows, how can I say you hit a curb
	or hit debris?"

	He said Donohue replied: "The risk of tire failure or
	equipment failure is one of the risks we drivers assume.
	Even if the tire is defective, we assume that risk."

    The above quotes are from the April 30, 1984 issue of AutoWeek
    (reprinted without permission, of course).  This is an excellent
    source for information about the trial, though it might be just
    a bit one-sided in its opinions.

    By the way, the above exchange was ruled as inadmissible as it
    was "Prejudicial and irrelevant," and was never heard by the jury 
    in the Donohue case.

    Goodyear is confident that they will win on appeal.  So confident
    in fact, that although they felt they might lose the trial, they
    went ahead, rather than settle for 5.6 Million out-of-court.


    Roger Webster