Car insurance may not cover mishaps

It's no secret that insurance companies don't like the people they cover to drive fast. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that the industry has been removing a policy loophole that insured drivers on racetracks.

That has left weekend warriors uninsured if they participate in track days or attend high-performance driving schools.

What's happened is that many insurers have redefined the term "racing."

Policies have long had exclusions for racing, but it was defined as a "timed event."

High-performance driver education neatly avoided that definition. Although cars may take laps at top speed, they aren't timed.

At many schools, including those held by the Porsche Club of America and the BMV Car Club of America, students are required to attend classroom sessions.

On the track, drivers get one-on-one tutoring from an instructor under controlled conditions.

The cars are generally sent around the track in small groups with passing limited to straighaways -- and only when the driver being passed signals that doing so is all right.

So, because these runs were not timed, many drivers were covered by their normal automobile policies.

That loophole did not escape the attention of insurers -- some clubs practically taunted them in newsletters.

So, the industry began to add a new exclusion to its policies in the late 1990s, with most companies adding it within the last few years. Instead of trying to define racing, policies exclude damage at any location that could accommodate racing, timed or not. That eliminated coverage during high-performance driving schools and track days.

Not all drivers got word of the chance, or read their new policy. Also, because insurance is regulated by the state, exemptions in Michigan, for example, may differ from those in California.

Cost has also become a barrier.

Many drivers don't think they'll crash, and, unlike regular car insurance, track insurance is not mandated by states. Drivers often confuse track insurance provided by clubs, which in most cases, covers only liability and injury with collision insurance.