Photographer David LeClair was photographing rally car racing at Sno*Drift Rally in Michigan last Friday when one of the rally cars lost control, slid off the road, and violently slammed into LeClair, sending the photographer flying. The whole incident was caught on camera (warning: the video shows an injury accident).
Photographing rally car racing from right next to the track can be extremely hazardous to your health. Here's a 1-minute video that shows how one cameraman narrowly avoided getting squashed recently by a crashing and flipping rally car.
We’re all aware that photographing motor sports can be a dangerous task. Whether it’s on an oval track, a road course, or along country ravines, there’s always an inherent risk when a comparatively fragile human is photographing thousands of pounds of metal, carbon fiber, plastic and glass traveling at speeds far above what many of us have ever driven.
But as the above video goes to show, it's not always the vehicle itself you have to worry about... the pieces that occasionally come off the vehicle can be just as dangerous.