Jury rules Williams Grove has no case to answer
Williams Grove
In the Cumberland County Court , Carlisle , Pennsylvanian a jury of 8 men and four women took just 3 hours of deliberation to decide in favor of Williams Grove Speedway throwing out the challenge from injured Sprintcar driver John Westbrook.
Westbrook injured in a race crash in September 2008 that left him a quadriplegic was suing the Speedway seeking $6 million to cover his medical expenses and for pain and suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life.
The verdict when handed down was akin to the black flag effectively disqualifying Westbrook from the benefits he was seeking to improve his quality of life, life in a wheelchair!
The verdict was not a surprise to most that followed the case as the evidence submitted by Westbrook’s attorney was weak and hypocritical.
The fact that Westbrook raced at the Speedway without an approved Hans devise and even after the accident continued to enter his race car and expected his driver to sign the very wavier he was challenging in this case was difficult to reason with.
It would appear that most people in the sport agree with the verdict and generally views stated in many forums are in full support .Some are less than sympathetic believing that Mr. Westbrook was arguing an unarguable case and should look after himself as it is his responsibility .
After the decision both Mr. Westbrook and his Attorney David Inscho were interviewed by Marijon Shearer from PennLive.com
“We’re disappointed, obviously, by the verdict,” Inscho said. “We’ll evaluate the legal rulings to determine whether post-trial motions and appeal to Superior Court are warranted.”
There seems to be a real chance that Mr. Westbrook is now being ostracized by the racing community and this is very sad.
One would think that some compassion might be forthcoming after all the future for this young man and his family is indeed grim. Hopefully the Sport and the local Speedway community might look at starting a fund to provide some level of support.
From this case three points emerge, the waiver signed by people who go racing is solid and will stand up in a legal challenge and that more care needs to place on the management and administration of the actual waver at race tracks. The final point is that is absolutely necessary that the Sport put in place a disability plan to look after race driver who receive such serious and life shattering injuries .
Putting to one side that each of us must be responsible for our actions it must also be remembered that the race car driver provides profit to the race tracks and it is in the best interest of every track owner and promoter to put a plan in place that looks after their revenue source, the race car driver.
