Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Bogle bam here. Most drivers buy car insurance to
Speaker 1: protect themselves in case they're in an accident and their
Speaker 1: car or another person's car is damaged. But what about
Speaker 1: race car drivers? The sport is built on speed. NASCAR drivers,
Speaker 1: for instance, race its speeds of up to two hundred
Speaker 1: miles an hour, which is a little bit over three
Speaker 1: d kilometers per hour. And at speeds like that, accidents
Speaker 1: are bound to happen, and they do. The cars are
Speaker 1: built specially to break apart on impact, protecting the driver
Speaker 1: by scattering the force. Some fans find the crashes to
Speaker 1: be the most exciting part of the sport. So who
Speaker 1: ensures these drivers and their race cars where accidents are
Speaker 1: par for the course. Well, if you know anything about racing,
Speaker 1: and especially NASCAR, you know the drivers have sponsors and
Speaker 1: lots of them, and some drivers cars might be sponsored
Speaker 1: by insurance companies. So does that mean the company insures
Speaker 1: the car too? Sometimes, but not always? And if not,
Speaker 1: then who does? Let's break it all down first. The
Speaker 1: pit crew and other members of a racing team are
Speaker 1: usually employed by the team, and that team usually provides
Speaker 1: them with health insurance, just like any employer in the
Speaker 1: United States can provide you with health insurance. However, drivers
Speaker 1: are often independent contractors and employment status that generally comes
Speaker 1: with no benefits, including insurance coverage of any kind. This
Speaker 1: does vary somewhat, as some states have laws requiring workers
Speaker 1: compensation or disability coverage, but that's an exception to the rule.
Speaker 1: In short, drivers generally don't receive any benefits unless they're
Speaker 1: hurt on the job, and often not even then. However,
Speaker 1: professional drivers do have options for insurance, since being a
Speaker 1: professional driver comes with perks and often major sponsorships. Some
Speaker 1: insurance companies compete the right to negotiate contracts in exchange
Speaker 1: for publicity for their brands, and most drivers are usually
Speaker 1: in good physical condition as is demanded by the sport,
Speaker 1: so they pose few risks to insurance companies outside of
Speaker 1: the time that they're actually competing. But what about the cars.
Speaker 1: The team owners can't just call up their local state
Speaker 1: farm rep and ask for a policy for a race car. Instead,
Speaker 1: racing teams typically must ensure their cars with companies that
Speaker 1: specialize in motor sports. There are several such insurance companies,
Speaker 1: and they typically based the policies on agreed upon values
Speaker 1: of the cars and on the competition schedules. That is,
Speaker 1: the more races on the schedules, the more the policies
Speaker 1: are likely to cost. Racing assets such as tools, trailers,
Speaker 1: and facilities, and even the tracks themselves need to be
Speaker 1: insured too. Drivers may also carry business liability coverage and
Speaker 1: life insurance in addition to their health insurance, and spectator
Speaker 1: and liability insurance is also available through companies that specialize
Speaker 1: in motor sports insurance. That's because of all spectator injuries
Speaker 1: at sporting events, most occur at auto and motorcycle racing events.
Speaker 1: That's because fans sitting near the track are at higher
Speaker 1: risk of being hit by an out of control vehicle
Speaker 1: or debris from a crash. Today's episode was written by
Speaker 1: Shers three Win and produced by Tyler Clang. For more
Speaker 1: on this lots of other fast topics, visit how stuff
Speaker 1: works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio.
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Speaker 1: favorite shows.