Drift Fury is over b/cof accident!- Keep Matt Campbell in your prayers!

[AtlE30]

Jesus, and I was supposed to go to shoot this.. I forgot to send in my form so I skipped the event. god damn.

Were there no barriers separating the cars from spectators/photographers?

There's no barriers. You have to stay on your toes all the time, and try to keep an eye on all cars on track. It's risky business out there, and especially with multiple cars on track it gets to be a little hard trying to keep an eye on everything. I've been shooting these events for the past two years now, and hadn't ever really given a second thought to actually being hit by a car. Usually things go smoothly and as the event winds down, we're all comparing the last few shots, or our favorites throughout the day as we're walking over to the winners circle.

It just goes to show accidents can happen no matter how well prepared we all think we are. We'd be wise to put our heads together and see if there isn't some kind of precautionairy measure we can't take to try and ensure that something likes this doesn't happen agian; Be it track design, creating new designated media locations for the photographers to shoot from, or even some kind of platforms like they use to film D1 in Japan, they keep the photographers from being hit directly on by a car.

Personally I think crash barriers are a horrible idea. If anyone was at Nopi in '04, a drift car lost control and smashed into a barrier, the barrier itself was thrown backwards 6 or 7 feet, and went through the fence into the spectators. I was standing a few feet away and couldn't believe it. The only barriers I really have much faith in are the enormous cement monsters at Road Atlanta.

[B18c-rex]

It was definately a bad ending to a great day of drifting. Me and brady were standin in the same spot not two seconds before the accident. You have my prayers matt . Why did it take so damn long for the emt's and cops to show when there right down the road...?

[CHADbee]

Why did it take so damn long for the emt's and cops to show when there right down the road...?

i was wondering the same thing...i've never been to a motorsports event where there was'nt an ambulance there on call

[B18c-rex]

I know seven of the volunteers including myself were on the phone to 911 right after the accident and all we got from them was automated anwsering machine

[eraser4g63]

. Why did it take so damn long for the emt's and cops to show when there right down the road...?

Once you Dial 911 and your call gets handled it takes an average of 2 mins for them to dispatch an EMS and FD because They have to prioritize the calls (not saying this wasn’t an important call) then if a Unit is out on a call they have to bring in a unit that is not a local bus. And on top of that logistical nightmare Grady moves there crew all over there zones, very rarely will you your work the same area with the same partner with in a week. Anyways I digress, average time for between Being “toned out "( being told there is a call) and actually being enroute to the call is about 1 min depending if they are on lunch or dinner or what is going on. While on the way you must remember your in Atlanta where people are to good to move right for an ambulance of Fire truck ( fuck you people who don’t yield the right of way, pull the fuck over). Your average response time total comes out to about 10 mins if all goes well and there are no issues. Sorry about the rant just thought I would defend my fellow brothers, and the reason there wasn’t one of stand by is cause no one paid for them to be there, it cost a lot of money to have an ambulance tied up in a staging mode, but trust me we enjoy it when we get called out to watch something. But as for Matt I pray you have a swift and fast recovery, and I believe you will see changes in the drift event formats for next season.
*PS. there wer more than EMTs on that truck, there is a EMT and a paramedic (though on cert cards it says EMT-P) they still get pissy about it, i know )

[Fast Shadow]

Personally I think crash barriers are a horrible idea. If anyone was at Nopi in '04, a drift car lost control and smashed into a barrier, the barrier itself was thrown backwards 6 or 7 feet, and went through the fence into the spectators. I was standing a few feet away and couldn't believe it. The only barriers I really have much faith in are the enormous cement monsters at Road Atlanta.

You can get interlocking plastic ones like they used at AMS for the drifting demo at this year's NOPI. They're enough to give some protection without becoming especially dangerous if they were to get dislodged. If not barriers then more separation distance is needed between the course and where people stand.

Anyway, this isn't about assigning blame.. just wanting to suggest ways to make things safer based on my own experiences. I hope Matt is feeling better soon..