Image via ABC 7 Chicago/YouTube
Safety fences are designed to be tall enough and angled so in the event cars crash at a track, they don’t fly into the stands. There have been some horrific mass casualty events where such safety measures weren’t in place. But even the best laid plans in motorsports can go awry thanks to freak accidents like a recent one at a track in New Zealand.
People living near Laguna Seca are tired of the noise.
Video footage taken by fans at the raceway captures the moment one of the cars jumped the safety fence, landing not too far from spectators. You can hear a few people yell out as the racecar vaults the fence and lands on the other side. But we’re surprised there wasn’t more shock and fear expressed by Kiwi motorsports fans.
The crash in question happened back on April 5 at Beachlands Speedway during a streetstocks race. One of the cars hit the side of another after rounding the turn, the second car overturning and flipping the first up into the air, sending it over the barrier.
Fans had to scramble to get out of the way of the flying racecar, but nobody was hurt in the incident, including the driver. The driver in the second car was also okay after it flipped several times but stayed on the track, according to Otago Daily Times.
It truly was a “freak accident” as Speedway New Zealand president Ricky Bolton is quoted as saying. We’ve never seen anything quite like it and hope we never do again.
Normally, safety fences work well enough to keep all but fine debris from flying off the track and into the crowd. The track apparently has four meter tall fences, that’s about 13 feet, but an investigation might cause those to be replaced with something even higher.
Thanks to the scary event, organizers called off the rest of the race and shepherded fans out of the venue. Hopefully this is just a one in a million shot which will never be replicated again.
Check out the video for yourself.
Image via ABC 7 Chicago/YouTube
