HEADS UP! Or Better yet, HEADS DOWN!
A Day at the Park!
It’s referred to as “America’s Pastime”! Among the 68.5 million fans who according to the New York Times attended major league baseball games during the 2019 regular season, many would agree that Baseball is still “America’s FAVORITE Pastime”. Whither its a day at the park in the Major League, Minor League, or Little League, many spectators have witnessed the following scenario play out: It’s the bottom of the 9th. The count is full, 3 balls two strikes; the bases are loaded. The pitcher winds up and throws a fast ball. The batter swings and hits a long fly ball down the left field line. “It’s going, going, gone!” The batter has hit a grand slam home run; winning the game. Instant euphoria!
Another baseball scenario experienced by spectators creates a similar emotion to euphoria, but it is accompanied by confusion and panic. It plays out like this: the batter hits a fly ball behind the back stop or into the spectator stands; Not everyone sees the ball. Voices can be heard all around saying: Heads Up!!! Instant confusion sets in wondering why you would look up and risk the potential of the baseball hitting you in the face, accompanied by a sense of panic trying to find the allusive stray ball. The ball hits without causing injury to any spectator, but…
Just outside the ball park, vehicles of all sizes line the road and fill the parking spaces occupied by spectators cheering their team to victory. With an audible gasp heard by spectators within visual sight of the parked vehicles, the stray baseball makes direct contact with a nicely polished car parked close to the venue. With the sound of smashed glass, the shape of the baseball can be seen imprinted in the center of several spider cracks reaching all over the windshield created at the hand of that allusive baseball. If a spectator is fortunate enough to witness the tragedy that befell his or her windshield, a phone call to a local auto glass repair and replacement company can immanently be made. If the car owner didn’t see the eventual landing spot of the pop up, he or she might have enjoyed the rest of the game, but will ultimately find a surprise waiting patiently for them upon their return to their nicely polished car.
With as many foul balls and home runs that are hit in baseball, a windshield being damaged by a stray or smashed baseball is not an impossibility. Among the accidental foul ball, an innocently parked vehicle might fall victim to an orchestrated contest like the one organized in Okeechobee Florida. According to Gary Detman who wrote an article published by cbs12.com, a local Ford dealership “added a monster home-run wall with an image of an F-150 pickup truck as part of its ‘Bust the windshield’ contest. Anyone who smashed the windshield on the F-150 with a home run would receive a $500 collage scholarship”.
Is Your Broken Windshield Covered?
Who is ultimately liable for a baseball hitting and breaking a windshield. Such a question deserves an article unto itself. That is in fact what sadlersports.com has done. In his article www.sadlersports.com/blog/vehicles-damage-foul-balls/, John M. Sadler cites the “assumption of risk defense”. Sadler states that “under the assumption of risk defense, an injured party (such as a spectator) can’t prevail if he or she has assumed a known risk that is an inherent part of the activity.” Driving to and attending a baseball game is an inherent risk part the activity. However, if conditions such as the 19 cases cited by Sadler, one might have a general liability insurance claim. Seven of his nineteen citations include:
- Car owned by a neighbor and parked in his yard next to ball field.
- Vehicle parked at the ball field while owner attended an educational class in the nearby gym.
- Car parked at ball field while the owner attended a function not related to the baseball game.
- Car hit while the owner was playing tennis nearby.
- Passerby’s vehicle hit while driving down street.
- Claimant parked and attending a basketball game when his car was struck by a baseball.
- Claimant parked on street while attending church when car was damaged by a baseball.
With or without a general liability insurance claim, automobile owners generally have coverage that would help pay for the cost of replacing a broken windshield. Depending on the coverage, insurance companies will pay for the cost of replacing a broken windshield after the policy holder pays his or her deductible required by the insurance policy. Most Auto Glass companies like Mountain West AutoGlass work with insurance companies to cover the cost of a broken windshield.
Avoid A Broken Windshield
To ensure that an insurance claim (general liability or auto policy claim) doesn’t need to be filed, consider a few tips to protect your windshield from being broken at the hands of a stray baseball:
- Park your vehicle far enough away from the baseball park out of the reach of any stray baseball, and walk to the park.
- Park your vehicle so the back or side windows are facing the ball park. (one does run the risk of a side or back window being broken, but it won’t be the windshield).
- Take public transportation to the ball park and leave your vehicle home or at a park and ride lot.
- Place a protective guard over a windshield such as a padded cover.
- Stay at home and watch the game on television (not as fun, but certainly 100% effective in preventing a ball from hitting your windshield)
Baseball is arguably America’s Favorite Pastime and has been since 1846. There is nothing like hearing the organ play over the loud speaker, the green grass, the hot dogs from the concessions, the sights and sounds of the crowd, “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” sung at the bottom of the 7th inning, and an exciting game of baseball played on a clear spring, summer, or fall evening. Remember the saying, “Heads Up” really means “Heads Down” and be sure to cover your head.
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