NEAR FATAL ACCIDENT at Drift Fury

[Drift Brick]

As somebody who's been snapping pictures of cars and people doing dangerous things for quite a while, Id like to chime in.

It's the photographer's fault. noone elses.

He chose where to stand, he chose to get target fixated on whatever he was shooting, and he chose not to keep a weather eye on the next car in line.

Nobody else is to blame, period. Even if he was in a restricted area, it's unreasonable for the organisers to keep EVERYONE out of those places ALL THE TIME. He should've signed a waiver going in, like everyone else, and if he's a professional photographer at a motorsport event (espescially an amateur event!) he shouldve known what might happen if he stood in the wrong place and didn't have his eyes on.

It's a bummer for him, and im sure hes hurtign a ton right now, but if there's any blame to place here, Im sure he's willing to take it.

People act liek there's never been an injury in any motorsport, ever. What we do is fundamentally dangerous stuff, people. Photographers and drivers alike know this, or at least SHOULD know this.

[Slapshotnerd]

If this guy is an AP (Associated Press) photographer, I'm sure he is a professional and knows to not run out on the track.

Another thing to consider is, if he is AP, what consequences will this have on the drifting community on the whole.

Glad to see that he will make it out alright.

AP = atlanta performance = the name of his company...

[Octagon]

This is why motorsport protocols should ALWAYS be in place during events. Flaggers, radios, lights, and every manner of control should be used to keep anyone on foot aware of what's happening on-track.

My best wishes go out to Campbell for a quick recovery, but this is a lesson that drifting at EVERY level needs to learn - we're in the motorsport business, folks, and we must act like it.

[kidynomite]

As somebody who's been snapping pictures of cars and people doing dangerous things for quite a while, Id like to chime in.

It's the photographer's fault. noone elses.

He chose where to stand, he chose to get target fixated on whatever he was shooting, and he chose not to keep a weather eye on the next car in line.

Nobody else is to blame, period. Even if he was in a restricted area, it's unreasonable for the organisers to keep EVERYONE out of those places ALL THE TIME. He should've signed a waiver going in, like everyone else, and if he's a professional photographer at a motorsport event (espescially an amateur event!) he shouldve known what might happen if he stood in the wrong place and didn't have his eyes on.

It's a bummer for him, and im sure hes hurtign a ton right now, but if there's any blame to place here, Im sure he's willing to take it.

People act liek there's never been an injury in any motorsport, ever. What we do is fundamentally dangerous stuff, people. Photographers and drivers alike know this, or at least SHOULD know this.

I don't see how you can entirely blame the photographer. I don't know this guy and I don't know his knowledge of this sport, but in general like I have said before not all photographers know this sport. They might photograph road racing or something of the like. They just know how to take pictures of moving objects.

As a photographer in your meetings you are told where you can stand, it is up to the venue to provide a safe place for them to stand. If I was told I could stand somewhere, I would because I assume that the venue would not jeopardize my health. Just allowing them to roam around the track is retarded and that seems to be the case here.

[Slapshotnerd]

I don't see how you can entirely blame the photographer. I don't know this guy and I don't know his knowledge of this sport, but in general like I have said before not all photographers know this sport. They might photograph road racing or something of the like. They just know how to take pictures of moving objects.

As a photographer in your meetings you are told where you can stand, it is up to the venue to provide a safe place for them to stand. If I was told I could stand somewhere, I would because I assume that the venue would not jeopardize my health. Just allowing them to roam around the track is retarded and that seems to be the case here.

He was in a designated photo spot. To my knowledge, this wasn't his first Drift Fury event. don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

[Edgar]

He was in a designated photo spot. To my knowledge, this wasn't his first Drift Fury event. don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

My prayers go out to him and his family and of course the driver and his family because im sure he isn't feeling to good about this either from what I read on the Atlanta board.

From what I heard the photographer was only protected by a "cone" in the designated area????? Someone clear that up for me please.

Did he have a spotter out there with him?

[Rhoad Racing]

He was in a designated photo spot.

and that spot was obviously an impact zone.

[conspire]

It's the photographer's fault. noone elses.

I don't see how this could be unless he ran across a hot track or jumped in front of a moving car. Another reason could have been if his back was to the car, and no one should ever have their back to car on a hot track. I don't even do that when some of the best drivers are on course, too many variables involved. Even if he was in an area that he was not supposed to be in, someone should have told him the correct place to be or yanked his media pass. If someone failed to notice he was in the wrong place, then someone wasn't doing their job. The people on track are the responsibility of the people in charge.
If he was in a designated "media area", that area should have been clear of any run-off's or potential off course excursions. Insurance companies generally have strict specifications regarding how close your course design can be within permant fixtures or objects (i.e. curbs, light poles, buildings, etc...) for the very reason of avoiding a collision, the same goes for media or worker areas.
I've seen plenty of media people in places they shouldn't be and then get mad when you try to tell them to move because it's for their safety. At one of our last events we constantly had to tell "professional" media individuals to back up from the k-wall and guard rails because they we standing too close to a potential crash zone. One guy was standing ON the guard rail and forced us to waste valuable track time in order to explain to him why standing on the guard rail at the end of the runoff on the first turn was a "bad idea". Another straddled a k-wall like it was a saddle so he could get "better" pictures. We don't like to be mean, but we do so for the safety of everyone. Most have very nice equipment that allows them to zoom further than I can see, I don't understand how a few more feet closer to the action can be worth putting your self at risk of injury or death.

In any case, it's still a bad situation and I think we have all learned something from this. I sincerely hope he is doing better and is able to pull through with a speedy recovery and no long term injuries.

[DailyDrifter]

As an organizor, I can safely state that if this happened at my event I'd $hit my pants. At the end of the day we're held accountable for what ever happens at our events whether or not we can control the situation.

We (as organizors), have to minimize the exposure. Who's going to pay for the medical bills. That's gonna be huge. Is the photographer that dedicated to the sport and willing to pay for all the bills for himself or is he gonna ask Drift Fury to help pay for the bills. And I mean Drift Fury's insurance because I doubt they have that much cash at hand. Insurance claim = less insurance companies willing to cover this new "dangerous sport". Less insurance coverage = less events or no events.

Imagine if the dude dies. Do you think his next of kin is gonna be dedicated to the sport as he is and just let it go? I don't think so, they're gonna go after everyone involved in the event! That includes the organizer, insurance, venue, and even the people that built the venue. Yea, they can, at least in Texas they can. That's enough to scare any venue from having a drift event on their property.

Let's not forget this is a hobby for most of us. I don't want to loose my house and everything I own over drifting. Yea LLC helps but, who's to say the family members aren't going to go for everything they can get their hands on, I wouldn't blame them, they just lost someone. Not to mention the weight of having someone loose their lives at your event. I'm sure the driver that hit the guy feels pretty crappy too.

I'm not saying we can avoid ALL accidents but we need to remember this is still a dangerous sport like any other automotive event.
It's all our responsibilty to keep OUR event safe. Who cares at this point who's at fault. The accident already happened and nothing can be done about it. I just hope the impact of this unfortunate accident does not create a wave of panic towards the sport in the eyes of insurance companies and venues.

Ok sorry for the rant, but this hits close to home.

P.s.: I really hope Matt recovers soon. I think his misfortune will help us all look at safety as a key factor to any automotive event.

[Mike Peters]

As someone who runs events it is nice to say that there have been no major injuries in drifting, now I can't really say that. I hope they don't use the same insurance as the rest. Don't ruin this for everyone else.

before you are so fast to point that finger, ive seen many organizations who will allow cars to run without lugnuts, helmets, seatbelts even, loose items in car, boop suspension, camera people walking ON TO track. i could point a lot of fingers, but one place i definately wouldnt point one in he direction of is dan/tracy. honestly tracy has a reputation for being a safety *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* and very anal at events. she is VERY stringent on everything, from paperwork, to who is on track, in cars, near cars, staffing, inside the gates, she does a very good job at making the events as safe as possible. so before you are so quick to point the finger, you better figure out the rest of your story, because right now you are [b]basing your opinoin off of speculation, which is really f#cking LAME.

I see a lot of stupid *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* at these Drift Fury events, a lot of lack of care just so the show is "cooler". I hope you guys don't find this as a fluke, because if you do it won't keep them or anyone from changing. Think safety first, safety for driver, for fans, for specatators, announcers, camera men, staff, everyone.

like what? cars drifting? oh no. they turned away over one hundred media applicants for safety.

A lot of camera men don't know how cars react, and don't know those spots that are dangerous compared to most drivers. You have to be strict about where they can go, I like how FD ran their events, they are ridiculously picky about media and staff and I commend them on that. I have yet to see any of this NOPI Drift Fury stuff to think about everyone, I hear too many stories of people crashing during demos, or people almost getting hit, and now people getting hit.

people almost get hit all over the place. but in this case a photographer , had his BACK TURNED TO THE HOT TRACK, AND WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO ANYTHING AT ALL, THE OTHER TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS STANDING NEXT TO HIM GOT OUT OF THE WAY, WHILE HE STOOD THERE BACK TO THE TRACK, AND WAS HIT. it sucks horribly it happened, but tracy/dan were on the ball, however as cold hearted as it may seem, the only person you can really blame here in all reality is the photographer for having his back turned to the track and not really watching for his own safety. the spot he was standing in was really not the best place to be in the 1st place, much less to have your back turned to the hot track. as far as it being designated area, im not sure if it was or wasnt. but since you brought it up, and seem to be so intent on tearing into fellow organizers of legal drift events who bust their a55 to make legal places to go with specualation and heresay based opinoins as someone who was there i just wanted to set that straight. as someone who was kicked off staff from a texas organization for "taking safety too seriously and being too anal on safety" ill say tracy has a very similar take on safety in reguards to tech/track/spectator/ride along/tandem/etc beleifs. if there was an organizaion i wanted to scrutinize for safety, it definately wouldnt be drift fury.

I know I am coming off a bit harsh to Drift Fury, but this is still new, if I was an insurance company and was looking to insure drifting and saw cars flying at announcers or heard stories of photographers being hit, I would raise the hell out of the rates.

i hope i am coming across blunt to you, but you sir are basing your opinions off of heresay. dan and tracy have put a lot of time/work into helping east coast/atlanta area. something terribly sad happened yesterday, and my best wishes to matt, and everyone involved, and it really sucks for everyone. but i will not let you sit here and bash with no real valid reason. matt wasnt quite paying attention in an area he was allowed to be on, at his own risk, and he shoudl have known that. but unfourtunately, and simply, his back was turned to a hot track, in a somewhat unsafe and not exactly designated area, and got hit.

best wishes to everyone involved. everyone has bad luck, but if you cant be constructive it doesnt really serve a purpose.

[Mike Peters]

This is why motorsport protocols should ALWAYS be in place during events. Flaggers, radios, lights, and every manner of control should be used to keep anyone on foot aware of what's happening on-track.

My best wishes go out to Campbell for a quick recovery, but this is a lesson that drifting at EVERY level needs to learn - we're in the motorsport business, folks, and we must act like it.

as much as i do agree with you 100% here with what you have stated, i do feel the need to reiterate there were many cornerstations, at least 20 radios on staff, and communication between tracy, dan, grid, start, all corners, and communications was on par if not better than some of the better auto-x events i have been to.

the sucky fact of the matter is matt has his back turned to the track, and was ina less than optimal, and on the borders of designated area. there were IIRC two cornerworkers in the same corner as him, with radios. a car came off track, everyone else got out of the way well ahead of time, however matt had somewhat segregated himself, and had his back turned to the track. again its extremely unfourtunate, and my best wishes to matt, his family freinds and everyone involved, and the guy who hit him and his family, but i have to re iterate, the event was on the ball with safety, communication, and structure. a photographer just wasnt paying attention with his back turned to the track, and got hit.

i do agree with you though, from some of the events ive seen , safety in america generalized is extremely lacking, be it drifting, drag racing, or auto-x events. drift fury is not one of those lacking events. bad things just happened saturday leading to unfourtunatly, one of drift fury's photographers being badly injured and a car getting tore up, and a really bad day for a lot of people. manure happens.

[Ghost of Duluth]

Yea I agree, Dan and Tracy are safety Nazis. Their events are well planned and safetly is paramount.

In the end, as I understand it, he didn't have a vest on marking him as a photographer, came onto a track that was hot and got hit. Not sure how else this could be explained but that was how it was explained to me.

So yes, while it is terrible what happened, it could have easily been avoided.

[Nemesis Digital]

he didn't have a vest on marking him as a photographer, came onto a track that was hot and got hit. Not sure how else this could be explained but that was how it was explained to me.

So he was allowed onto the track without a media vest? I was turned away from the event early that morning because they didnt recieve my credentials in time and they ran out of media stuff.

[markshatchi86]

sad to hear that happened, i was planning to go but ive had a pretty bad cold since thursday so i decided against it.

ive shot two drift fury events now, and yes there are no barriers, but then again i try to place myself away from areas in which im not going to get hit. also, the big thing (in ANY motorsports I shoot) is if I am on a hot track, i pay attention to EVERY car that comes close to me. Ive had a few close calls at various races that have all been avoided by paying attention.

The speed at drift fury isnt that high, so i cannot see being hit without it being user error.

[Mike Peters]

Yea I agree, Dan and Tracy are safety Nazis. Their events are well planned and safetly is paramount.

In the end, as I understand it, he didn't have a vest on marking him as a photographer, came onto a track that was hot and got hit. Not sure how else this could be explained but that was how it was explained to me.

So yes, while it is terrible what happened, it could have easily been avoided.

ughm....*cough*

Hi Everyone,
I was attending Drift Fury and saw most the actions take place.

matt was wearing a vest. he was not on hot track. who are you hearing this 4th person down the chain crap from? thanks.

heresay = heresay. stop giving it more credit than its worth.