GPWizard F1 Forum

Other Sports => Other Sports => Topic started by: Andy B on April 20, 2017, 10:14:43 AM

Title: Billy Monger
Post by: Andy B on April 20, 2017, 10:14:43 AM
I'm sure you are all aware of the Billy Monger F4 crash in the UK which was quite horrific and as a result the 17 year old has had both legs amputated and put into a medical coma.
I hope you will join me in wishing Billy a speedy recovery and hopefully he'll take inspiration from Alex Zanardi.
There is Crowdfunding for Billy which has exceeded its target and if you wish to contribute the link is below.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/billymonger23
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Dare on April 20, 2017, 01:13:42 PM
I saw a vid of the crash and why wasn't a yellow flag out or any
type of warning.He had no where to go.Hope for the best recovery possible
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Robem64 on April 20, 2017, 01:54:42 PM
I saw a vid of the crash and why wasn't a yellow flag out or any
type of warning.He had no where to go.Hope for the best recovery possible

Totally agree - horrific accident and amazing he's survived it.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Scott on April 20, 2017, 08:54:48 PM
Just horrible...saw it the other day.  Poor kid.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Andy B on April 20, 2017, 10:17:03 PM
I quite agree Dare but also why did the other kid stop on the track?
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Dare on April 20, 2017, 11:28:35 PM
I don't know Andy all I could find was a car was apparently
stopped on the track.How the driver in the parked car wasn't
hurt is beyond me.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Andy B on April 21, 2017, 04:13:01 AM
I don't know Andy all I could find was a car was apparently
stopped on the track.How the driver in the parked car wasn't
hurt is beyond me.

A very lucky boy he even went home that evening after checks.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Robem64 on April 21, 2017, 07:42:12 AM
I quite agree Dare but also why did the other kid stop on the track?

Apparently the other car had just had either a spin out or an excursion onto the grass immediately before hence him being either stationary or moving very slowly on track.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Alianora La Canta on April 21, 2017, 01:17:31 PM
I quite agree Dare but also why did the other kid stop on the track?

Apparently the other car had just had either a spin out or an excursion onto the grass immediately before hence him being either stationary or moving very slowly on track.

This is also why the marshals don't have yellow flags for it yet - it all happened very quickly.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Andy B on April 21, 2017, 10:39:58 PM
I see the fund has now reached £696k so that I hope will help him and others injured in motorsport.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Dare on April 22, 2017, 12:51:28 AM
Are race drivers required to carry a insurance policy
in the event of a tragedy like this occurring?He's in
for a long and expensive rehabilitation
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Andy B on April 22, 2017, 10:39:11 AM
Are race drivers required to carry a insurance policy
in the event of a tragedy like this occurring?He's in
for a long and expensive rehabilitation

It seems insurance is there but at a cost and most drivers forgo it.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: cosworth151 on April 22, 2017, 03:25:09 PM
It's always been horribly high priced & pretty much worthless, like most things from the insurance racket.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Alianora La Canta on April 23, 2017, 05:34:36 PM
Are race drivers required to carry a insurance policy
in the event of a tragedy like this occurring?He's in
for a long and expensive rehabilitation

Insurance, yes. You can't race in any FIA-organised series in Europe without at least some third-party insurance, and in F4's case, it's in Article 10 of the FIA Sporting Regulations for that category. The trouble is that not all insurance is equal, and F1-level independent insurance (which is compulsory in that series and covers to at least £10 million of expenses, even for non-third-party problems) is way outside the budgets of most F4 drivers, except those born into vast fortunes.

British F4's insurance situation is regulated by MSA. It has the same insurance policy rules for all car racing at national level. You can have independent insurance if you wish, but this is not compulsory. The two groups of people who are recommended to have it are non-British drivers (due to limits on amounts of treatment the NHS will cover for foreigners, that vary according to current state of agreements) and any driver who is expecting to compete abroad (the MSA deal only covers some such situations, not all - for example, anything requiring an International licence is generally excluded unless it happens in the UK or a nation with a full reciprocal agreement such as the Republic of Ireland).

It does, however, require payment into, and where appropriate use of, its in-house third-party insurance (as well as contribution towards comprehensive insurance for marshalls, that is considerably better than the comprehensive element for drivers) as part of licence fees. For drivers and marshalls alike, it covers up to £67 million (you read that correctly) of costs in third-party accidents. So if Billy's amputations had been a result of, say, a badly-maintained track sending him flying or a recovery vehicle in the way, Billy and his family probably wouldn't have had to worry about his medical costs for the rest of his life. He could have billed the MSA's insurance for all his needs and they could focus on everything except money.

However, third-party insurance is no help here, as drivers cannot be third parties in relation to one another (that's Article 10.4 of Formula 4's regulations, and the FIA does this for all racing series to prevent motorsport disappearing in a cloud of inter-driver lawsuits). So at that point, the compulsory comprehensive level kicks in... ...but if using the automatic insurance provided by the MSA, all a double amputation gets you is £10,000 (£5,000 per leg), plus £100 a day for the hospital stay. Note that Billy is in a NHS hospital right now and will only be charged for things like the entertainment unit and phone calls, so the £100-a-day bit won't be fully paid out unless and until he transfers to a private hospital for rehabilitation therapy.

Apparently, the family priced up the cost of prostheses to allow Billy to return to competition and discovered the typical cost to be £260,000 (not including any rehabilitation therapy needed to be able to use the prostheses over and above that which the NHS will provide). Note that although the NHS will provide free prosthetics, these are selected on price rather than functionality and are geared towards minimum living standards (to the point where many opt for a wheelchair in preference). NHS prostheses will be no use for returning to racing competition, which Billy has already indicated is his aim (and which his family guessed even before he awoke from surgery enough to communicate).

I have no comment as to whether private specialist medical insurance would have been a good idea, but can see why the Mongers - and, at a guess, most other racing families at this level - might think "we're already paying for one lot of insurance, why buy a second?"

(Sorry for the large number of edits. I kept spotting stuff I wasn't happy with straight after pressing "Save Settings"...)
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Dare on April 23, 2017, 06:09:51 PM
Thanks Ali.Seems like the high cost of insurance is only appreciated
if you need it.Many insurance policies here have a yearly $6000 plus
deductible.If you were unlucky enough to have one occasion to use
irt on 12-31 and another on 1-1 you'd be out over $12,000 which is out
of the budget for many Americans.
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: Alianora La Canta on April 23, 2017, 06:38:27 PM
Thanks Ali.Seems like the high cost of insurance is only appreciated
if you need it.Many insurance policies here have a yearly $6000 plus
deductible.If you were unlucky enough to have one occasion to use
irt on 12-31 and another on 1-1 you'd be out over $12,000 which is out
of the budget for many Americans.

More than that; it's only appreciated when needed over a certain level. For more minor injuries like broken bones, the MSA standard insurance probably is sufficient - £350 per bone (assuming it's not from a specific list which pays out more, e.g. the pelvis) plus hospital fees could plausibly cover that type of injury, particularly if OK with NHS timespans for fixing it, and since the licence fee includes it at no extra cost to the racer...
Title: Re: Billy Monger
Post by: John S on April 23, 2017, 08:29:48 PM
Motor racing is, and has always been, exceedingly cruel to drivers and their families. Whilst I'm immensely sympathetic to Billy's plight and love that so much has been raised to assist his future I can't help remembering the loss of Henry Surtees in the tragic F2 accident at Brands.

Even if you have the money for full insurance there's something worse that motor racing can throw at families and that's loss of life. No amount of money can make up for that.

Get well soon Billy.

 
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