In practice, it’s rare for players to bring lawsuits against their opponents.

Whether or not Edwards would be liable for injuring Keselowski would depend on whether a court decided that his actions-nudging a car intentionally with the goal of crashing it-were inherent to the sport. But if they do it on the football field, they’re protected. For example, if someone broke your collarbone by randomly tackling you on the street, you could sue them and probably win. So there are greater limits on the liability of whoever caused the injury than under normal circumstances. Courts have determined that when you play a sport-or get behind the wheel of a race car-you assume certain risks inherent to the game.

What if Keselowski had been injured in the crash? Would Edwards be liable? NASCAR has put Edwards on probation for three races as punishment. (Watch the video here.) Edwards admitted it was retaliation for a similar bump from Keselowski last April. The car of NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski flipped over and crashed Sunday after another driver, Carl Edwards, bumped him during the Sprint Cup race in Atlanta.

Nascar the game crashes