It's idiots like these guys that reflect poorly on all of us

Diplomatic immunity can't and won't go away. It is necessary and makes good sense in many situations.

He can claim immunity all he wants. Politically, however, he won't be immune from anything since immunity won't restrict us from deporting him or from his own state in waiving immunity. It also depends on who actually has or does not have the immunity and their status / level.

To me, for an incident like that where there was no harm to others (in that instance), the fact that the state department is now looking into this and it has garnered national news suggests he may have plenty of problems on his horizon. Remember, he is probably a massive, spoiled brat and so just dealing with this and being investigated will feel unnatural to him.

I hope they make them squirm a bit and that the media attention makes it politically impossible to just sweep this entirely under the rug. The more viral the videos go, the better. Only thing that would have made this all swifter is if they caught him trash talking the U.S. on film and not just in the quote...

 

If something really ugly were to happen as a result of this kind of driving - death of one or several pedestrians, for example - the State Dept would ask the Qatari government to waive diplomatic immunity for the individuals involved. The Qataris would agree after assurances of a relatively light (or suspended) sentence. The individuals would be imprisoned or deported. The victims' families would receive a large financial settlement. Not ideal, but better than the picture being painted.

 

This, though unlikely that a suspended or light sentence would fly politically if actually caught on tape, etc... just wouldn't work politically...

Now in the actual case, let's also look at it in comparative terms. If a "nobody" rich kid did this they would not likely be facing actual jail time in this exact same scenario. He didn't hit the nissan (despite the video commentary) but sounded like he bottomed again driving through the intersection (my interpretation based on the video but I'm fairly certain).

So you have someone running a stop sign blatantly, and speeding. They can pretty much a precise estimate of the speed given the video but in reality probably wasn't doing more than about 65-70 (going from memory of the video). Obviously reckless but, again, unlikely for someone well-lawyered to get jail for this.

I think making a big fuss about this is completely warranted, especially when layering on the threats. But either a real warning (i.e., they will be ejected from the country on another transgression) or actual ejection from the country would be a pretty fair punishment.

 

To bring this back to the forum itself, this really, really, really is making for awful press for Ferrari.

On two levels, the visibility of featuring of the car (and the type of driver on display) and the smoking of the car after that. All this talk of Ferrari being selective with their cars comes off as pretty embarrassing since they are excluding some real enthusiasts (who also have "enough" money) but clearly not ultimately weeding out the people who you definitely would not want associated with the brand.

 

Fully and justly deserved on both counts.

While I have every expectation the LF has been rode hard and put up wet every day of its short life I have every expectation the P Wagen has too. If they cannot assemble one of the most expensive cars available well enough not to blow a hose off, or whatever, that soon after building it they need to own it.

Not terribly surprised sad to say. There is no sign in the factory "The customer is our next QA inspector".

 

Dave, it would have to work politically. The US would have no choice other than to ask Qatar to waive diplomatic immunity (or simply deport the guy with no punishment). Qatar wouldn't do that without assurances of lenient treatment for their guy. Failing to respect diplomatic immunity would not be an option, as that would endanger American diplomats and American interests around the world, not to mention upsetting the accepted order of global diplomatic relations.

 

I'm sure their Hyper-car allocation line will never, EVER lose one placeholder over this.... EVER!

 

On Forbes today

http://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2015/09/16/diplomatic-immunity-doubtful-for-qatari-official-racing-in-ferrari-through-beverly-hills/


"On the one hand, diplomatic immunity does cover criminal charges from reckless driving, such as what apparently occurred in Beverly Hills. However, Qatar has a consulate in Los Angeles, not an embassy. The embassy is in Washington, D.C. The L.A. consulate does things like issue visas, not negotiate agreements with the State Department.

So, the drivers may have been consular officials, not diplomatic officials. Consular officials get a more limited form of immunity, for their official duties, not for everything they do. Unless the Ferrari driver was racing to deliver a visa to a traveler in time, presumably the racing was not part of his official duties."

 

Cant be prosecuted but can be kicked out of the country perminatly.

all you have to donto ME men is make it know your the alpha dog they back down wuick.
If he hates america why is he living here ?
Send there asses packing back to qutar and ban them frommthe country.

Not hard to do.

Funny how our country gives diplomatic immunity. Its not a free pass to do whatever you want and this is what this clown thinks.

The fact that he boost all bad ass yet throws in " diplomatic immunity" shows just how stupid and chicken **** he really is.

Id love to have crashed into that la ferrai when he was going through the neighborhood.

 

I filled out the State department form through the link that was given.

I requested they be removed from the country before they killed someone.

 

But I wouldn't mind if some street justice was dealt upon them.

 

Couple things. When I say it won't work politically, it is because domestic politics will trump upholding any blatant abuse of immunity (which, as per the Forbes article mentioned below, may not even apply here...)

As I mentioned elsewhere, diplomatic immunity will never be removed as a concept, and is there for a good reason. However, like any agreement, convention or law, sometimes the original intent is so blatantly inapplicable that exceptions will be made, even if they are "negotiated".

If someone wantonly killed people in this context, including through carelessly racing around with children present and ignoring stop signs / the law, and if an incident were indisputable in that regard (caught on video) there is no way on earth that the guy would get off with a slap on the wrist. His alleged assertion to the other guy about being able to kill him... and that there is nothing they could do, good luck to him with that.

In fact, there is precedent for this and in not as egregious a case as the hypothetical above. The guy served real time (though far too little, he frankly would have had it easier in the U.S. prison system).

The real issue is that they can immediately eject him from the country. For this and no other reason. That calls nothing into question. If the situation became or was blatantly worse (killing the reporter after making that sort of statement) then the political pressure would be extreme. We all know how politics vs. international law tend to fare when matched up against one another (hint, domestic politics always wins).

 

So?

Makes it less appealing to be in that allocation line.

Brands do fall. So do riches. Many high-probability scenarios in the not-so-distant future where the middle east isn't faring so well relying on oil...

 

In 3 threads, also in the 288/F40/F50/LaFerrari section
Silver and general forum discussion

 

There will always be > 100 people pining for every allocation spot they'll have for these cars.

103 vs 100 or most likely 503 vs 500, do you think they care?

 

I don't care whether they care.

But they may care if it becomes a public relations nightmare for a public company?

Selecting customers, who knows what sort of scrutiny could come on them.

Important to be aware of the past, bad times along with the good. Can be humbling. There is a human tendency to over-extrapolate on current trends, as well as a tendency to get caught up in the present and start forgetting what the past teaches us.

Ferrari isn't immune to bad press. They need the general public's awe and support overall, to capture the interest of buyers. Or the luster will completely wear away.

I don't think this is such a huge PR disaster but I also don't think everything should just be shrugged off without giving any thought to implications.

 

True but it does prove and highlight the assertions as well as make them look like what they are in a very public way.

Will not change anything but dents a highly developed ego.

 

So the reason I did not see it is because I really only frequent the Showroom. I'm locked out of the good stuff and really got here following a Google search. I am a detailing geek and posted a bit here. I am not an F car driver (yet anyway) and I was researching a coating for my car and it showed up here.

I posted a bit and I like it here, do I book marked it and I have been as regular over here.

 

No, not at all. Not shrugging either but simply pointing out that they don't care even though you and I do. Crazy as it sounds the only way for this to become anything more than a news blip would be for Obama to latch onto it as some sort of class dividing ploy but he won't since the drivers are who they are. Even then, all that would happen would be someone's father telling them to chill the F out!

 

Fair enough.

Still think hubris can be anyone's downfall

 

Oh, without question..........

 

Looks like:

LaFerrari Asshats Who Terrorized Beverly Hills Do Not Really Have Diplomatic Immunity: Police

 

The real question is.... Did the car have a failure because it did not have Dave Helm's gold connectors fuse kit?

 

I hope this isn't the end of this but the rented house is empty.