New Aussie Binding Company - Launched Today!
What about high back rotation for us that use a forward stance for free riding?
Also what about snow jamming/freezing on long 15minute lifts? Will these bindings hold up to that?
One other thing, what if there is a failure/injury?
Interested in a few pairs myself, also.
The prototype doesn’t have high back rotation but we’re looking at that for production, or possibly a pre-rotated asymmetric high back. We’ll see how the production design pans out.
Snow jamming/freezing shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve designed it so any ice/snow is pushed out as the binding closes.
We’re working out the warranty details, but there will be a good warranty to cover any failures, and the main aim will be to build it to last and avoid any failures in the first place. The factories were looking at are all very experienced binding factories, and we’re also talking to one of the lead design firms to take it through from prototype to end production model. Reliability will be a key focus.
Do you have insurance for possible claims, should something catastrophically fail and a major injury is sustained?
If the binding gets jammed full of snow and it freezes into ice on the way up (say on a long chair in Canada), do you think the binding will be able to close?
I would assume the bindings will come with the same sticker (or printed) that comes on most snow gear.
That snow sports are a dangerous, you do it at your own risk.
Yes, insurance is must for any business these days.
As for snow freeing on the chairlift, that is unlikely to cause any issues. The step in mechanism is designed the break and remove any ice build up.
It’s a matter now of getting the production samples and having more people riding & demoing them to show it all works.
That’s true. Pretty much all gear comes with the standard warnings, and these would be no different. Snowboarding is a hazardous activity that could result in injury or death!. Product Liability Insurance can cover against injury resulting from product failure, but product failure is rarely the cause of accidents & injury in snowboarding. A far bigger danger is trees, avalanches and tree wells. In fact tree wells are probably the biggest danger in snowboarding & skiing, which far too few people are aware of. Next time your heading overseas for a powder adventure make sure you know about the dangers of tree wells and ride accordingly.
and that’s today’s safety broadcast…..
Do you have insurance for possible claims, should something catastrophically fail and a major injury is sustained?
Really? do any products come with this at all?
I’m assuming he’s referring to product liability insurance.
At one point you had to sign a liability release when buying Burton products in order to stop people suing them if they were injured while riding (not sure if they still do that).
It’s insurance for the manufacturer in case someone sues you. It’s not insurance for the rider. You’d have to go to court and win a damages claim due to faulty equipment.
I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of it.
That’s exactly correct.
Liability cover is for if negligence is proven in a case. Example, binding fails due to some sort of malfunction, person breaks leg doe to fail, person sues for $2M due to broken leg due to product fail. Person with broken leg will definitely win the case and the insurance company will pay $2M to the broken legged person. This binding company will have $20M of cover per year.
Prototypes can be awesome, testing can be awesome, numerous batches may be awesome, but when mass producing something, quality will definitely vary from batch to batch for one reason or another and someone, someday may get a binding that is slightly less strong is a certain place. That person also may just happen to want to spin 1080s in the pipe and put a lot of strain on their binding. This binding will be the one that breaks. And this will be the person that sues.
Lucky this should only cost around $1000/year for that cover for Strewth.
It’s near impossible to do any trade or establish any product/business/service without PL in this industry.
Snow resorts will not allow a business to operate unless they have it.
2mil for a broken leg sounds very extreme and you would have to have absolute proof it was due to product failure for the courts and that the amount awarded is necessary to cover medical bills, loss of income and legal costs. You wouldn’t get 2mil in your pocket and you would have to put the money up front for legals to have the case heard - the court alone charges upwards of $5000/day then there are solicitors and barristers.
Say a screw came loose on a binding (they all do), it’s up to the owner of the binding to render maintenance, if materials break you would have to prove the binding was never used apart from how it was intended. A small detail like not using the boots that a ski technician matched with the binding would work against such a claim (not a salesperson - a SKI-TECHNICIAN) or if they were fitted to your board by a registered ski-technician. If you ever used them outside of a ski resort ie; back country. Were the bindings transported to the resort safely.
Then there is the problem of the form you signed to get your lift ticket - you acknowledge you are participating in a dangerous, life threatening activity that causes injuries.
I agree that, if proven, such a claim is possible. Proving it is a long process.
Public liability is essential for any business. And not that expensive.
Do you work in the insurance industry Daveo?
Personally I think the issue of PLI is fairly small in comparison to all the other issues faced by a start up company with large overheads like any other with a significant portion of the cost absorbed in the manufacturing process. It’s just a tick the box issue IMO. If it was a big issue every time you bought snow hardware you would be signing a disclaimer absolving the manufacturer/company of any responsibility. A large part of the issue would be precedent, AFAIK there is no precedent set in this case.
If you were to go for a claim, most likely it would be against one of the major companies, as they and their insurance companies do not want a precedent set they will fight it tooth and nail and win because they can throw more money at it and tie it up in appeals and so on and so forth until the claimant runs out of cash or the inclination to fight.
Agreed NBG.
Once one claim is awarded more would come.
The normal way these plays out; The eventual winner has a legal team that keeps the case in the court until the eventual loser runs out of money to fight it. These things rarely get decided by a judge/court.
It’s near impossible to do any trade or establish any product/business/service without PL in this industry.
Snow resorts will not allow a business to operate unless they have it.2mil for a broken leg sounds very extreme and you would have to have absolute proof it was due to product failure for the courts and that the amount awarded is necessary to cover medical bills, loss of income and legal costs. You wouldn’t get 2mil in your pocket and you would have to put the money up front for legals to have the case heard - the court alone charges upwards of $5000/day then there are solicitors and barristers.
Say a screw came loose on a binding (they all do), it’s up to the owner of the binding to render maintenance, if materials break you would have to prove the binding was never used apart from how it was intended. A small detail like not using the boots that a ski technician matched with the binding would work against such a claim (not a salesperson - a SKI-TECHNICIAN) or if they were fitted to your board by a registered ski-technician. If you ever used them outside of a ski resort ie; back country. Were the bindings transported to the resort safely.
Then there is the problem of the form you signed to get your lift ticket - you acknowledge you are participating in a dangerous, life threatening activity that causes injuries.I agree that, if proven, such a claim is possible. Proving it is a long process.
Public liability is essential for any business. And not that expensive.
Do you work in the insurance industry Daveo?
I’ve got an online retail business, so I know a lot about this stuff since I sell a variety of different goods. I kind of have to know the cover situation for all the goods I sell, and I sell 150 different categories. Honestly the claims are a lot easier than you would believe. A broken leg easy $1M-$2M. They would claim that it is a seriously inhibiting permanent disability- almost the same as a death claim ($5M-$10). This is if you’re deemed manufacturer. If you’re not and just a reseller, they’ll go to the manufacturer, but this new binding company will be deemed manufacturer, not whoever is making it for them (this is just to place liability on someone, and all the design work etc will be done by the company, not the manufacturer) If the quality of the product is deemed poor and below spec when someone has an accident and claim, then they will sue the binding company and the binding company will sue the OEM. The thing is, once you have the cover, you can just close your eyes and forget about it and the insurance company does it all for you.
All court costs etc. will be paid by the insurance company actually. The person suing can also claim most of their legal fees.
I haven’t had a claim myself, but I know a few people in the industry who have. Really serious ones, also.
Agreed NBG.
Once one claim is awarded more would come.The normal way these plays out; The eventual winner has a legal team that keeps the case in the court until the eventual loser runs out of money to fight it. These things rarely get decided by a judge/court.
Yes, as soon as one occurs, more and more will definitely occur. Especially if it is spread over a tight knit group like a forum community, then everyone on the forum will be on their back with dollar signs in their eyes. I guarantee this.
As soon as someone posts up that they’re injured from a binding failure and post a picture of the binding, then all of a sudden miraculously there will be a whole heap more that coincidentally have the exact same failure and more and more injuries. I’ve seen it happen.
Personally I think the issue of PLI is fairly small in comparison to all the other issues faced by a start up company with large overheads like any other with a significant portion of the cost absorbed in the manufacturing process. It’s just a tick the box issue IMO. If it was a big issue every time you bought snow hardware you would be signing a disclaimer absolving the manufacturer/company of any responsibility. A large part of the issue would be precedent, AFAIK there is no precedent set in this case.
If you were to go for a claim, most likely it would be against one of the major companies, as they and their insurance companies do not want a precedent set they will fight it tooth and nail and win because they can throw more money at it and tie it up in appeals and so on and so forth until the claimant runs out of cash or the inclination to fight.
I believe it would settle out of court for more than what they were claiming in court.