BRCA Insurance

[Colin Kirkham]

What's amazing is how few people I've spoken to, don't know what the insurance
Covers.
Most are under the impression that, if you have a BRCA no. Your covered for anything, especially when marshalling cars.
I do wonder how many of the attending drivers, we're unaware or unsure before Kevin Griffin gave a "marshalls briefing" at the rally x national last weekend ?

How many of the other classes give a briefing to state, that you are NOT
Covered by your BRCA insurance, when you leave your Marshall post to marshal a car.

I think this should be be made more important in drivers briefings, than "where the snack van is !! "

Another Question I would like to ask Jim...

Locally we have a club which race 1/8th rally x, but they are not affiliated to the BRCA.
Do we, with BRCA membership, have any 3rd party cover if racing at there events?
Or indeed any cover at all ?

[reg]

as long as you stand in the marshal point while driving

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by moffett-mechanic

What's amazing is how few people I've spoken to, don't know what the insurance
Covers.
Most are under the impression that, if you have a BRCA no. Your covered for anything, especially when marshalling cars.
I do wonder how many of the attending drivers, we're unaware or unsure before Kevin Griffin gave a "marshalls briefing" at the rally x national last weekend ?

How many of the other classes give a briefing to state, that you are NOT
Covered by your BRCA insurance, when you leave your Marshall post to marshal a car.

I think this should be be made more important in drivers briefings, than "where the snack van is !! "

Another Question I would like to ask Jim...

Locally we have a club which race 1/8th rally x, but they are not affiliated to the BRCA.
Do we, with BRCA membership, have any 3rd party cover if racing at there events?
Or indeed any cover at all ?

i believe all members get a brca hand book, all is explained in thier, surely if they are doing nationals they would read the book?

im 100% sure your cover covers you if your anywhere and your car hits somone and injures them, im not 100% sure but i would have thought the club would need to have its own public liability insurance to cover marshals/thier site etc.

[johnnygibbon]

I think this is absolute shite
Apparently marshalling is " voluntary " however if you refuse to Marshall even on safety grounds you will probly incur a penalty
So in reality you are forced to Marshall sometimes in an unsafe position
I have been clearing a crash with two cars at the top of the straight after shouting " car on straight " very loudly and received a b4 full power to my heel by a relitavly new driver
Who said I heard ya shout but assumed you'd cleared it " sorry "
Every other driver slowed or drive round
And I also shout " clear " once I have cleared a crash on the straight to let people know its safe again to try to avoid this
Any way I am self employed for a month I struggled to work properly especially up ladders
And I am told this is my fault I marshalled at my own risk .
So to avoid injury don't Marshall , but that means you might as well not race
Linzi who raced with us for a bit ended up with his full leg in plaster for ages after an incident very simaler to this
Again through no fault of his own
Why the hell shouldn't marshalls be covered anywhere on the track it's bloody dangerous
And if they are not then marshalling should be truly voluntary
Some classes or grouos are worse to Marshall than others and at times I have been terrified as cars desperate not ti lose half a second in the z final attempt to take out marshalls then crash and shout at em them burn there fingers revving the car as they Marshall The
Bloody thing
Personally I think things need to change especially if your injured by someone else's poor driving/ mistake


This is a definite problem needs addressing
Glad this thread is running

[DCM]

Originally Posted by johnnygibbon

Also you may have noticed that there are a few wheelchair users in our sport and obviously they don't marshall
Maybe before Rc they could still walk

Up to this comment, you sounded passionate about RC, but you let yourself down putting that in fella, don't matter HOW they are disabled does it.

[mark christopher]

If its was unsafe to go on the track and you did and were hit, that's your judgement and your responsible. If you feel you can not retrieve the car safely don it, simples.

As has been said its allways been like this and if your worried about your judgement take out some personal accident insurance.

If I'm marshalling a car and the driver is on the power I simply leave it where it is and walk back to my point. Not been peanalized yet as the rule is you must be at your marshal point atte wwtart of the race. If you consider that point to be unsafe then ask to be moved or ask for some better protection.

It's not shite, just work within the parameters set out...

[john333]

My other half has to use a wheelchair part of the time and she's never been hit by an rc car.......what a bloody stupid comment, and quite offensive actually

[russmini]

All this just proves one thing to me...

Hardly any of you have actually read The Rules.. You are sent a Handbook as part of your BRCA Membership, all the rules, procedures etc etc are in there. If you did not know this, then you obviously couldn't be bothered to read it!
So forget all this shouting off now about being unable to work and this is all crap etc etc, You didn't/Couldn't be arsed to read the Rules, which are there for all to see, so.... Tough! I can't honestly see a problem. It's always been like this, it's your fault that because of your laziness at reading the Handbook you didn't know it, don't go sprouting off now!

If you feel that strongly about it, make sure you have Personal Accident cover or failing that, there's a good For Sale section with oOple. Sell all your stuff, then you won't have to endanger yourselves anymore...

[Cream]

Just on a side note, and to throw a curved ball in to the mix. With personal injury insurance do the same constrictions not apply? As in you must not put yourself in danger. i.e. you insurance won't pay out as you are deemed to have put yourself in danger being inside a restricted racing zone?

All this drama, but I'll still be there 7.30 on Saturday marshalling at Southport. I'll be the one with the flak jacket on



BTW if you drive like an arse I WILL pull your car off the track, Just so you know

[neallewis]

I'll ignore the silly comment above, and throw something else into the discussion...

The marshal point has been deemed a "safe" point, and you are covered here. But what if it isn't safe? What if its in direct line of jumping cars, or at the the end of the straight and cars can bounce off and hit you in your safe point.
When club members are track building sometimes a marshal point just gets stuck in the ground at a logical point where someone thought a marshal may be needed. I'm sure a risk assessment and sign-off hasn't occurred as to whether it is actually "safe".
I'm not trying to raise a point on who's to blame here (I detest blame culture), but if a case went to court, where someone was hit at a "safe" marshal point. The person that defined that point a safe place would be called to account. I'm sure the BRCA insurance would fight it so they were not liable.

[johnnygibbon]

Ok apologies not trying to offend just making a point
Linzi almost was in a wheelchair after his smash he was on crutches for ages
It would be interesting if people post there Rc racing Injuries here and how they sustained them to give us an idea of how many injuries come from an individual marshalling being injured by a car or even track malfunctions eg loose carpet slipping on wet astro ECt
I am not trying to encourage the blame for a claim crew to come racing but fairs fair if someone is injured and it affects there life there should be some help or compensation or if not they should be allowed to politely refuse to Marshall or ask to change Marshall points if they feel they are in an unsafe position

I will start
Heel - smashed black and blue while marshalling straight ( affected work )
Thumb - slipped on loose carpet and damaged thumb ligament ( affected work )
( although I do accept this is a bit if a grey area it's still a injury sustains at racing)
Hand burnt raw by driver revving the car full blast as they were marshalled ( affected work slightly )
Toes bashed by car ( didn't affect work to badly but still bloody hurt and bruised )

Minor injuries I know but injuries all the same
Generally through no fault of your own
What's happened to the rest of you then
And would insurance of helped

[mark christopher]

Sorry but you put your self on the tack to get hit on the ankle, just because your ran out cars don't slow down, do you cross the road and hope cars/buses slow down?

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by neallewis

I'll ignore the silly comment above, and throw something else into the discussion...

The marshal point has been deemed a "safe" point, and you are covered here. But what if it isn't safe? What if its in direct line of jumping cars, or at the the end of the straight and cars can bounce off and hit you in your safe point.
When club members are track building sometimes a marshal point just gets stuck in the ground at a logical point where someone thought a marshal may be needed. I'm sure a risk assessment and sign-off hasn't occurred as to whether it is actually "safe".
I'm not trying to raise a point on who's to blame here (I detest blame culture), but if a case went to court, where someone was hit at a "safe" marshal point. The person that defined that point a safe place would be called to account. I'm sure the BRCA insurance would fight it so they were not liable.

As I have put if you consider it unsafe, mention it or ask to be moved

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

As I have put if you consider it unsafe, mention it or ask to be moved

That's exactly what I did when I was racing recently with a small boy at the end of the straight, who simply couldn't cope, and was in danger. To be fair his guardian should have paid more attention to him, he was about 7-8 and really was in the wrong place. When mentioned, the meeting chief moved him for the next round.

[Colin Kirkham]

Yes your right, I bet more than 50% of racers have never even lifted the cover to the handbook, I've read it, but it's only when something does go wrong are you reminded, that yes you should have taken out some sort of cover for yourself.

If everyone did read the Handbook and took it all in, then we would not even need a drivers / marshals briefing ??
I would like it to be reminded / noted, especially new drivers at drivers briefings.
It's something that is important !
Don't forget most clubs let you race up to three times before you need to join the BRCA so those new guys and girls would NOT have read the handbook.

It is a fun hobby/sport, but at the same time it can be dangerous.
It does not matter if you have been into RC racing 25 years or 25 mins
When something goes wrong it does so in a second !
I just want every one to be safe and covered, if they need to be, if it does.

Okay I had no cover, I knew I had no cover when I marshalled the car on the straight, I do it like everyone else, you love racing and you want to be marshalled when your racing, so you do your bit.
But even after looking and no cars were coming when I left my post, and wearing a hi vis, and the race ref warning of a Marshall on the straight,
I still got hit by a car at high speed ! It happens very quick !

[Colin Kirkham]

On the point of "safe marshall points" I personally dislike chairs being placed nr jumps, as you are creating an increased danger to head injurys as your sat lower and cannot move out of the way as quickly as being stood !

[/tobys]

If you get hit/injured by another BRCA member's car/buggy whilst marshalling, can you claim off their insurance?

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by /tobys

If you get hit/injured by another BRCA member's car/buggy whilst marshalling, can you claim off their insurance?

no you can not

[DCM]

The Race Director is responsible for the position of marshalling posts, if you feel it is unsafe, tell them, they are normally busy doing a hundred things but most would be happy to accommodate your concerns.

Right, if your stood at your marshal point, you should be there watching your area of the track, so in theory, you should see any car out of controlling heading in your direction, now, we all know that half the marshals are either in a day dream, having a huff due to a bad run or just watching a car going round the track also, which makes them an easy target to be hit when they step onto the track to marshal, mainly due to them just not paying attention to it all.

It would be interesting to see if the BRCA could, not pay for it, but arrange a cover package that you could go for and get a group discount?

[MatJohnson]

As a voluntary organisation, thats gonna take up a lot of someones time to adminster this.