Please join me in donating whatever you can to help Mark Hales: He's a Motor Journalist who recently was asked to drive a Porsche 917 by it's owner. During the drive, the engine blew and the owner then decided to sue Mark. I call total BULL**** on the owner. At trial, the moron Judge ordered Mark Hales to pay £120,000

Please follow the link below and donate to help him pay the legal judgment of £120,000 levied against him by the idiot Judge in the case.

Just think about how this will impact all future test drives of exotic vehicles by people like Chris Harris etc; no more Veyron tests, or Pagani, or modded Porsches or GTR's.

http://www.trackdriver.com/mark_hales_appeal.php

Here's Chris Harris on his Blog about the issue.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...+mend#topicTop

 

The engine didn't just blow, he money shifted it. Sorry I don't get where he is not liable. I'd be pissed too if a reporter got into my priceless car and blew up the motor, which may have been all original, thereby tarnishing the value of the car.

They should have let Chris Harris drive the car. I hope the guy does not lose everything over this, but maybe it's a good lesson in being prepared next time. The worst part about it is that the publication, that stood to gain the most from this, isn't helping. That is the biggest travesty.

 

England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions
An excerpt from the Judge's decision: I, like heavychevy, don't see how he isn't liable for this. Also, I don't grasp how you made the leap that it will effect the ability to drive cars that theoretically can't suffer from a money shift (Veyron, GT-R, PDK Porsches, etc.).

It absolutely sucks that this happened, but it seems to me that there is only one responsible party in this incident.

Greg A

 

120000 pounds!!!
whats that like 250000 dollars?
outrageous.
not that he should have been asked to pay even one cent or pence or quid or what ever it is over there.

 

Why the hell would you want someone else drive your car in the 1st place?

 

What ever happened to personal responsibility? If the journo can't afford to fix it, then he damn well shouldn't break it!

This is why I never go 10/10ths in anyone's car aside from my own.

 

A bad situation all the way around. The "you break it, you bought it' concept seems to hold. Reading up on the story reveals alot. Signing a statement putting all blame and negligence directly on himself (Hales) is what ultimately decided this case. It is also why he was denied insurance compensation. It has been stated by numerous individuals involved that if the case had been settled sooner and out of court the engine rebuild cost of 40k would likely have been the total damage agreed upon. When multiple teams of lawyers get involved someone is always going to end up losing big.

 

Sounds like he or the publications didn't have the proper insurance. And I'm not sure how it works in the UK but here in the US the journalist's employer would be liable, not the journalist himself. Unless the journalist was considered an independent contractor. Then the journalist should be protecting himself by getting some pretty serious insurance.

Without reading deeper into the case (or knowing UK law) it sounds like someone dropped the ball by not properly protecting themselves from a situation like this. Still sucks though...

My 1/4 cent.

 

The owner wanted Hales to drive his car? No, Hales wanted to do a story of this car and the Ferrari he also drove. If a journalist blew the engine on my car, I would expect them to pay for it to make it right - and they should have insurance for it.

By the way, the total cost includes the repairs, plus attorney fees for both parties. There is no way I would donate to a guy who obviously didn't know what he was doing and couldn't afford to make a mistake. That's life, and it's called taking responsibility for your actions. I know - it's a unique concept that very few people practice.

 

I don't know if I'd ever say that a guy with years of historic endurance race experience, along with being a British Touring Car vet and seasoned journalist, didn't know what he was doing. I would say he was human. Which always involves making mistakes. In this case a costly one.

 

I am amazed how in the US, people seem to look for someone to blame for their own mistakes or issues. And I am not admitting to anything -just in case I get sued just for saying.

 

Please be advised, my attorney will be in contact regarding the class action lawsuit that I am filing against you on behalf of all American citizens. It is in regard to the slanderous and defamatory statement quoted above. The second part of your statement absolves you of nothing. Prepare to defend yourself.

Sounds about as reasonable as some of the "hot coffee" style lawsuits that still win people undeserved money every day.

 

My two cents:

First:

The journalist rew it at 8.500 when he have the owner advice of "no more than 7k"

Second:

The owner said "you bend it you mend it" and the journalist agrees that, so...

 

TOTAL AGREEMENT - If you are going to send a contribution, why not send it to a MUCH MORE DESERVING CHARITY - or to the fight over the Second Ammendment - or help a young talented racer HERE IN AMERICA!!!

Let those socialist Limeys take care of their own!!!

 

****ty situation all-around. If I were in the owner's shoes, I'd have offered to work out a payment plan and move on. If the cost were exorbitant for the journo, I'd give them a break as long as they made a genuine effort to fix the situation. If it was a shop or someone charged to take care of the car, that's a different story. But a journalist/racer is going to put it through its paces, and (as an owner) I'd be aware of the risks as well.