[Absolut Speed]

I know a message board is the last place to ask, but....

Most know my pit area was run over at a Solo II event and approx $1000 in damage was done. Offender refused to pay, as has insurance. Attorney I know did a favor for me and wrote a letter to the offender's insurance company asking them to do this the easy way and pay up now, or the hard way, and take the case to court. They again refused to pay. The attorney I used doesn't practice in Iowa and he referred me to someone who does for $155/hour.

I'm already out $1000, so..

Do I go alone and risk losing $1000, assuming it's a fairly simple case be it judged one way or the other?

Or do I improve my chances and hire an attorney, risk losing $1300 and at most get back $690?

When I pitted this question to the attorney that wrote the letter for me, he said it was always his advice to recommend legal counsel, especially when his insurance, who would represent him, would use an attorney.

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif)

[mitchntx]

Before I could pass judgement, I would need to know what the "norm" is at the event.

Does eveyone use 2 pit stalls?
Is it normal to drive through pit stalls to get from point A to point B?
Was the stall empty except for your T-Tops and floor mats?
Your wife witnessed the incident? where was she in relation to everything?
What is the normal flow of traffic to get to grid? to leave the property?

I guess it boils down to was the actions of the other guy reasonable?
Is it possible he didn't see the tops for whatever reason?
Was his vision obscured?
Was he not paying attention?
Was he following suit that others were taking?

Did you make note of his IMMEDIATE reaction?
Any photos? from anyone in attendance of the scene?

Be careful and do a little homework before filing a claim. Many times, judges don't allow one to recoup their lawyer fees. It's supposed to reduce the number of frivalous suits.

I was nailed with an "at fault" claim a couple years ago. I was almost stationary in a parking lot when a clown attempted a pass on the right at over 30 mph. He glanced off my car.

He claimed I turned in front of him.

I took a ton of photos and the case went to an arbitraitor. The thing that saved my butt was a photo I took of the damage to my car. In it, however, it showed his skid marks, which revealed the point of impact by a directional change in the marks and the dent in my car. My car had moved less than 2 feet.

You can't be turning if you aren't moving.

The point is ... documentation, documentaion, documentation ...