It’s been said that common sense isn’t all that common and there’s nowhere else this is more prevalent than the amateur photog scene in pro-am level drifting.
This drift photographer almost lost his camera and possibly a limb when he snuck past a K-rail to get a closeup of a drift train, where multiple drift cars slide simultaneously. What he didn’t expect was when said train wrecked causing cars to slam within inches of where he was with wreckage flying every which way. It was bad enough that he skirted the rules to get his “sick shot” but when he “humble bragged” about it on his social media account shortly after (Dec 2, 2018) the rest of the internet dragged him for being a complete noob in regards to his own safety. That post has since been deleted.
Check out his post, screenshot’d of course, and a couple of videos where we can clearly see him beyond the safety barriers.
Desert Meihan is at two-day drift event held in Arizona at the Bob Bondurant school of high-performance driving. With its tagline being, “A 1:1 scale replica of Meihan Sportsland – Can you run the wall?.” Its course practically invites its drivers to get as close to the wall as possible, which means, if you’re a spectator or media, keeping your wits about you is paramount.
K-Rails, Jersey Barriers, Fences etc. are put out there more for the safety of people watching than for the cars. Last year this photog literally got his face smashed in thanks to a “big wang” of a 350Z drift missile. If drivers had their way, their would be zero spectators and no barriers since replacing body panels are expensive. But, the amateur drift scene includes a healthy dose of fan participation so up the safety barriers go.
But, to blatantly disregard those safety barriers and put your own life and limb at risk is inexcusable and is, in my opinion, grounds for being banned from feature drift events if only symbolic in nature.
Can you imagine the backlash this drift event would’ve gotten if this photog was seriously hurt? It would be a literal blow to his face but more so for the entire media community surrounding these drift events.
Let’s stay safe out their guys. Follow all the rules and don’t go over barriers!
Source: @DriftAru
