Frequently on The Amazing Race, the competitors are put in cars and are asked to drive in countries where they’re not familiar with the traffic laws and customs, and sometimes even aren’t used to driving on that side of the street. And they are given a huge incentive to get somewhere as fast as possible. If at some point there’s a traffic accident in which one of the competitors is found to be at fault, could the producers of the show be held liable? Obviously the answer is made more complicated by the fact that every country presumably has different liability laws, but pretend for a moment that the laws worked just like US laws.
I mean, isn’t this aspect TAR kind of similar to drag racing for money on public streets, which I assume is extremely illegal?
IANAP (Producer), but I assume they get insurance that covers all kinds of liabilities, whether an auto accident or someone getting seriously hurt along the way. Given how popular that show is I don’t think they have any problem getting good ad revenues. They could also opt to self insure if the production company wanted to accept the risk.
BTW, I’m pretty sure the competitors have to possess some basic skills, like being able to drive a stick shift. I live in the US and was forced to drive in the UK for business and managed to survive without an accident. Of course I wasn’t racing other teams through the streets. Most of the time it appears they use taxis, perhaps for just that reason.
No, they don’t. I’m constantly amazed that several competitors each season generally don’t know how to drive a stick or swim.
I don’t know if this is editing or not, but my general perception is that most footage of teams self-driving do not appear to be hotrodding, as compared to some of the taxis that they get into. Also, I’ve seen references on fansites that say that teams that speed too much are subject to time penalties.
A friend of mine tried to get on the show and filled out an application. He said he was asked whether he knew how to drive a stick shift. If someone says yes, but are unable to the show may not find that out until they get in a car with a gear shift… but why someone would sign up for the show if they are afraid of high places or can’t swim is beyond me.
The key line is “While duty is a question of law, foreseeability is a question of fact for the jury.” So, in general, a foreseeable heightened risk of traffic accidents will not be justified by the entertainment value of the contest (the duty element); however, liability will exist only if the risk of the kind of accident that forms the basis of the suit was foreseeable, which is a factual inquiry.
As noted above, you can insure against this, and it means that the insurers believe the expected value of liability for a foreseeable accident is less than the value of the premiums recieved. For the insured, it means that value of the premiums do not reduce the profits below zero (and that there is not another potential show that would make more money).
The unspoken rule is that they must obey all traffic laws. I wonder if the cameraman (off camera) will give them warnings if they are pushing the limits. I’m sure they are warned in the downtime not to exceed the speed limit, pass recklessly etc. I would not be surprised if the rules state that deliberately unsafe driving will result in immediate disqualification… I know that’s how I’d write teh rules.
Recall the two girls in Japan smashed driver’s mirrors with someone on narrow Tokyo streets; and the two guys in South Africa rolled a jeep, seriously injuring their cameraman… Or the old couple in Greece who backed into a low-hanging tree… Shit happens. I assume they ensure that the contestants are not disqualified from driving legally.
I also suspect that a lot of the conflict and interesting personalities are a deliberate byproduct of editing.
(As a side note, if you watch the episode of Big Bang where Raj and Walowicz go into a goth bar with fake arm-sleeve tatoos, you can see the two AR goth contestants as background extras in the bar.)
Excuse my practical thinking, but if it was a lawsuit waiting to happen, wouldn’t it have happened in the last 12 years? (Wiki says it debuted in 2001.)
That’s a really long time for something that’s a “lawsuit waiting to happen” to not be sued.
Well, as far as we know, no contestant has crashed into another car at 80 mph and killed everyone on board yet. That’s the “lawsuit waiting to happen” I assume the OP is talking about. So far any car accidents have been limited to minor property damage, and injuries to the contestants and/or employees of TAR itself.
Two of the rules I’ve read online say that contestants are required to follow all local laws, and that contestants caught speeding will get a penalty at the mat.
Also interesting is that smoking is not allowed on the Race.
Not that many seasons ago, there was a team that rolled ( or at least tipped over ) their vehicle, I think that was in the outback of Africa, I do not recall any injuries to them but I seem to remember the cameraman being hurt.