“Crashed into a crowd of people during a race in San Carlos, Venezuela. Sadly, 3 people were killed. The driver received some broken bones but made a full recovery.”

The problem is that auto insurance as practiced is a mutual system. If your neighbors have lots o’ wrecks YOUR rates go up. That is why driver’s education at all levels (from teens to seniors) is critical. However, this concept is under funded because no one wants to step up and take responsibility (insurance companies, schools, state and local governments, non profits) in turn because no one wants to foot the bill. Why don’t insurance companies offer advanced driver’s ed classes? “Pass our class and truly demonstrate you are a competent driver and we’ll lower your rates.”

I’d still like to see the claims numbers for those who track their sports car vs. those who do not. Who has the higher claims rate?

So, if you have LM, make sure to read that next renewal…

I’m an LM policy holder. Thanks for the heads up!

Hmmm, I just reread the NYT piece and I don’t see how they were blaming insurance companies at all, and your original point about trial lawyers doesn’t seem to enter into it at all.

when a car craps out during an event (something blows up), we get it towed to the road, then we tell the insurer or warranty people that the vehicle crapped out on the road.

NOBODY assumes they’re covered with regards to flipping/wrecking – you’d be an idiot to think otherwise. That’s what track insurance is for.

Some had experience. Most did not. One particularly memorable driver was running a new C6 very badly. Imagine someone with lack of driving technique that wants to run his car hard like he would in Gran Turismo. This can’t be good, I thought to myself.

Sure enough, the insurance companies are catching on. Someone mentioned the obvious solution a few posts earlier – buy a beater Miata or CRX and don’t worry about dinging it on a track day. You can gut it and put a roll cage in also if you want extra safety.

My (subtle and missed) point (by suggesting another headline) was NOT that the NYT isn’t credible. My point was how the story was spun – blaming insurance companies instead of a major underlying cost (that happens to be a major Democratic interest group).

I enjoy the NYT, even the Sunday Style section. And I’m a gun owning, GOP leaning NYer. However, their bias is clear, both in the stories they cover and ignore.

Special insurance purchase for when you are at the track makes plenty of sense.

I agree. However, I’d be wary of kill-joy types who’d mandate so much safety and liablity coverage as to make all track days uneconomical.

The idea that anything published in the NYT is ipso facto not credible is simple minded.

I don’t think lawsuits are the issue here. Auto insurance is written based on the company’s best estimate of how risky the driver’s behavior and circumstances are. The more likely it is that a claim will be filed, the higher the rate. Hitting the track probably has a much higher damage rate per mile than does normal driving.

But hey, if the NYT published the story it must just be a bunch of anti-market commie crap, right? Oh wait, let the markets decide. Let insurance companies do what they want. Ack, cognitive dissonance!

Special insurance purchase for when you are at the track makes plenty of sense. The question of non-track events like autocross is a good one. Don’t assume you are covered for anything outside normal driving unless you have a letter from your insurance company saying so. Another consideration is business use of your car. Many policies exclude business use from the coverage. Being paid to deliver pizzas using your own car? Might not be covered. Driving to a meeting and being reimbursed by your employer for the miles? Might not be covered. Best to check.

So, if you have LM, make sure to read that next renewal…

But you miss the point completely! It is not a ‘race’ but high-performance driver’s education (where timing and contests of speed are strictly disallowed)that the insurers will not cover. Racing has never been covered. All of the people I know who attend these driver education events are excellent drivers on the street and are very safe indeed (they keep their need for speed on the track where it belongs). I bet, overall, those who regularly attend these events have LOWER claims than the average driver (including on-track mishaps). It is your soccer moms late-for-the-game calling-ahead-to-say-we’re-going-to-be-late, and your ‘tuners’ with their midnite racing that are the ones who drive up insurance rates.

Not long someone will be willing to write a policy to cover street and drivers education, then many track junkies will switch to that company.

That’s actually a sound idea and a good compromise.
I hope ‘track day’ events don’t go the way of the public swimming pool diving board.

I wonder if this includes SCCA training events also, since usually those are held in large parking lots or something other than an official track?

Of course, your source is The Times…