Anybody know how Don Campbell is doing? I sure hope he's doing better.

CJ

Been wondering myself. Anyone have an update?

Latest news I heard was that he lost his foot.

Damn that is sad.

Originally posted by Lance
Latest news I heard was that he lost his foot.

:( :( :( Damn that is really sad. :( :( :(

who is Don?

and what happened to him that caused such
a terrible thing?

something to do with wheeling?

Damn... I'm sorry man. That's horrible.

Just another lesson. These rigs we play with are not toys. I know in the Capbell's case it was just an accident and there was no monkey business. But all too often we see some stupid stunts on the trail. Safety first.

Originally posted by the frog
who is Don?

and what happened to him that caused such
a terrible thing?

something to do with wheeling?

Short story about a month ago in Farmington New mexico there was one of the 4 whell comps going on. His son was driving and he was spoting. Something happened and the rigs throttle got hung as it was rolling somethik that ended up hitting him or a rock hitting him crushing his foot. Im sure www.off-road.com would have the full story somewhere. Fat city on this board also hurt his ankle at the event as well.

Matt

Not trying to be an ass but it's now wonder more people don't get hurt spotting. What do you expect when most all the drivers bash the gas all the way to the floor. It's gotta go somewhere.

god, that really sucks.

Don was the the spotter.

Originally posted by Big Rich
Don was the the spotter.

Don was NOT the spotter. But I think that's what you MEANT to say, right? ;)

i'm very curious to know -

what happens with a guy/girl getting hit
during a competition?

are they insured?

does the insurance company issue a policy which
includes specifically participating in motorsports
events?

what is the organizers liability in such a case,
and are they insured also?

do these events get a permit from the authorities
and do they need to get one in advance?

i'm asking all these questions not only because
i think many PBB members would like to know the answers,
and not because i'm a lawyer( i am, what can i say),
but because this is a very problematic issue here
in Israel and i hope i can get some useful info
about how things are being done in the states.

i'd hate to see a person getting seriously hurt during
such an event without an apropriate coverage.

from what I heard he chose to have it amputated, partly because of hospital time..

if this is true (telll me if its not so I can delete this) I can understand that because I am stoborn myself and would want to get out of there asap...let alone being me when I am a older guy.

Plus there is a bright side kinda...
today with modern medicine/technology - there are awsome things that can be done with prostetics...

personally I would call cambell engenering to build me a custom foot - with titanium and coilovers and all...


hang in there don...

ya my hopes go out to mr.campbell, a couple of my buddies were out there from north carolina and told me what happened. real tragedy. there was a guy who didnt even think twice about ripping his tailgate of his brand new GMC and used it as a stretcher now thats heart....

hey frog you still in israel? must be fawkin crazy out there...
i'm a canadian jew who relocated down to the good ole u.s.a and well i watch the news consatantly talk about blood shed and tragedies , ay.....

Originally posted by tj7
hey frog you still in israel? must be fawkin crazy out there...
i'm a canadian jew who relocated down to the good ole u.s.a and well i watch the news consatantly talk about blood shed and tragedies , ay.....

Hi there tj7, nice to hear from you.

indeed things dont look too good, although after what went
on in the last couple of weeks, i feel there is a much better mood
in the country. maybe the other side is starting not to interprete
tolerance as weakness, something which may lead to a better negotiating possibilities.

keep your chin up:cool:

Barry

Originally posted by the frog
i'm very curious to know -

what happens with a guy/girl getting hit
during a competition?

are they insured?

does the insurance company issue a policy which
includes specifically participating in motorsports
events?

what is the organizers liability in such a case,
and are they insured also?

do these events get a permit from the authorities
and do they need to get one in advance?

i'm asking all these questions not only because
i think many PBB members would like to know the answers,
and not because i'm a lawyer( i am, what can i say),
but because this is a very problematic issue here
in Israel and i hope i can get some useful info
about how things are being done in the states.

i'd hate to see a person getting seriously hurt during
such an event without an apropriate coverage.

I would think it's an issue for the Campbell's to work out themselves. I assume Don has health insurance to pay for the medical costs. I was not there and only have second info but from what I heard Don ran toward the rig his son was driving after the roll happened. Doing so was a personal choice and I don't think RRCA or anyone else is responsible for a choice Don made. It's truly sad that this happened to Don and I wish him well. If event sponsors start getting sued for this type of thing, it's just going to put an end to it. Everyone should take responsibility for their own actions.

Originally posted by Chris Geiger
I would think it's an issue for the Campbell's to work out themselves.

i totally disagree with you.
maybe in this particular case it's the Campbell's problem becuase
they participated and willingly took the risk and probably even
signed a waver.

but, in future incidents, or should i say accidents, injured people
may want somebody to be responsible. take for example
a case of a bystander watching the event.

if he gets hurt, maybe seriously, he wil be sueing everybody
arround - the driver, the spotter, the organizers, the local
authority, the local police, the land owner and god knows
who else. BTW - i'm not sure Mr. Campbell wo'nt!

i'm sure you or any other PBB member or anybody else
that has any connection to such an event, would'nt want
to be dealing with such a mess and maybe
loosing everything he's got for damages to the victim.

all i was saying is that this issue should be dealt with
and that whoever takes part in an event, should do it
having the peace of mind and knowing that if something
happens, he would'nt be fucked up for life.

i also think that all the different event organizers should
be minded to this issue and deal with it accordingly.

proper insurance is a must in any such case, no matter
what the cost is going to be. ijust wonder if any insurance
company would agree to insure such risks.

who happens to know something about the legal
situation here?

I know something about insuring events -- I'm a principal in a corporation that insures the event that we hold on BLM ground. We build most of our personal liability protection into the corporation that runs the events, because there is no easily-attainable insurance available to cover the event hosting entity. You HAVE to make the waivers and disclaimers work for you -- and through extensive legal and financial research, we have found that the best way to cover this is to have as impenetrable a corporation as possible, and be willing to either defend that ($$$$$$$$$$) or walk away from it. If a participant comes after our organization, we'll defend a little, but we are entirely willing to toss the figurative keys to the figurative shop to them and say fine, we're outta here, burn it down if you want. We're smallish, so that works for us -- larger organizations have deeper pockets that make for better targets, and larger names that have a higher value.

During my research as I helped set up our organization, I found that many event organizers are fairly evasive about how they organize their defense, because they worry about someone using that knowledge to hurt them. You may not receive a lot of direct answers as a result.

I have read through the ARCA/RCAA waivers and disclaimers and have a pretty good understanding of their corporate structure*S* but I was given this information under a request to keep it quiet. If you really want to know more about this, I suggest you contact RCAA directly. My impression is that the competitors themselves would be thoroughly disclaimered and waivered away from a legitimate claim, but Don, as a spectator COULD make a claim.

I hope he does not, though -- as painful as the results must be, he made the decision (or had the reaction, which amounts to the same thing, IMHO, in a court of law) to run toward danger and not away from it. If a precedent is established that RCAA should have prevented this (more than their existing roped-off spectator areas), these events are OVER. The event organizers would have to start keeping out spectators, and the spectators drive the sponsorship dollars, and tuhe sponsorship dollars make this happen.

Nothing personal, but IMHO we need less lawyers and more PERSONAL RESPONIBILITY. The trail lawyers in America have stretched the boundaries of common sense too far, IMHO, and there are far too many people out there who are unwilling to take care of themselves and under the impression that the government, manufacturers, or corporations should take care of them...

Randii

Originally posted by the frog



proper insurance is a must in any such case, no matter
what the cost is going to be. ijust wonder if any insurance
company would agree to insure such risks.




It all comes down to dollars. No one is going to provide long term insurance for such an event with spectators so close for a reasonable cost. Full insurance could easily be $100 per person. Most people won't pay that so guess what? There is very little insurance at these events today. Most events require you to carry insurance on your rig, but that's a joke. For one thing the insurance is null and void for use in competition, so as soon as a claim is filed and the insurance finds out it was a race, they are not going to cover a dime. Most people only have $30K of insurance on their rig anyway (just the mimum) and that not going to go vary far toward medical bills for a major accident. Many rigs have been so modified from stock that many insurance companies would cancel the policy if they just saw the rig.

So to sum up, on the road vehicle insurance is a joke for use in competition. Full insurance is going to be too expensive. Anyone sued as a result of rock crawling events like private property owners, BLM, drivers, spotters or others involved will not want to be a part of future events.

Randii's black hole technique is a good start, but sometimes when someone gets hurt they will chase after anyone and everyone they can, shotgun style. After spending a few days in court even if they don't get anything, it will make operators worry about future events.

As a nation we really need to get over this sue happy mentality. I think each year we will see spectators moved back further and further till you will find yourselves sitting stadium style watching from afar. Then we will look back to the good old days when you could be right there where the action is.

Don wasn't spotting as someone said, he was behind the vehicle behind a rock and a small tree, getting pictures from behind the rig as it was climbing a tough waterfall. I actually saw it happen from about 10 ft. away... pretty scary.
Prayers go out to all of them.

:flipoff2: to the lawyers...
This is a time where people are not accountable for their actions if it means a lawyer can get a piece of it.

Don,
if you read this, consider this a get well card from AZ and hope to see you on the trails again soon.

Mike

Originally posted by Chris Geiger
As a nation we really need to get over this sue happy mentality. I think each year we will see spectators moved back further and further till you will find yourselves sitting stadium style watching from afar. Then we will look back to the good old days when you could be right there where the action is.

i could'nt agree more.
every word you said was absolutely right.

in fact this legal situation you described matches exactly
what we have here in Israel.

all those events are actually illegal here unless given specific
& prior permit from the local police. the permit, if given at all, incudes so many and so strict provisions which are
almost impossible to comply with, including ofcourse
a valid insurance..............:(:(

no one here will insure such an event with spectators
scattered all over the place, taking pics, taking a closer
look, cheering, etc.

the insurance policies the rigs carry are good for nothing because
they do not apply for comps and because they do not apply AT ALL due to the modifications that were made to those vehicles.

so, here we are all kinds of people(including lawyers!!!) taking huge personal risks, just to be able to do the things we love doing that much.
maybe now people would understand why Four Wheeler, inspite
of the huge interest in their TTC and the possibility of making a lot of money out of it, make it a closed event.

here's:beer: :beer: to our peace of mind:)