If you read my Chadmouth for today, you know that it pisses me off when people rush to the fence at a drag race, autocross, midget race, or whatever, and pull out their phones to take pictures and video of the poor bastard that just crashed his junk. I’m fairly certain those folks wouldn’t think it was cool if you jumped out of your street car and ran over to the curb and filmed your son after he fell of his skateboard and broke his leg. But somehow it’s okay for them to do it when it’s only your car. NEWS BRIEF PHONE FILMING IDIOTS! I’d give one of my appendages for some of my cars, and so would you, our fine BangShift readers.
It’s pretty obvious that it pisses me off, but I want to know what you think.
So, Does It Bother You When People Rush To Exploit Some Poor Racer’s Misfortune After A Wreck?
EDIT –
I LOVE YOU GUYS! This is exactly the response I was expecting.
I know it seems totally hypocritical for us to run crash video and photos all the time, although in a lot of cases the person knows we are going to be running them.
To take this to another depth, I was hoping that some of you would say that it depends on what happens to the guy. With regards to injuries I mean. When people start up with the photos or video, with no regard for whether the guy is injured or not, that’s what really bothers me. In fact, we never run something if we don’t know that the guy walked away or that his injuries aren’t severe. During our live broadcasts and on the blog every day.
Risk and reward. When you make a public spectacle of yourself, you take the risk that comes with the reward. Just because it didn’t go how you envision it doesn’t suddenly mean you can turn off the information pipeline because you don’t like what it has to say.
Your boy crashed his car. People took pictures of it. Your website regularly posts pictures of other peoples’ accidents and automotive abominations, and you have no problem taking them to task for it.
Oh but it’s your boy who messed up his ride? We’re all assholes because we wanna snap some pictures. Get over yourself.
At the Speedway , both bikes and cars , a majority go to watch for the excitement of a crash and unfortunately they pay for that right …………..right or wrong……it’ll never change!
So it’s OK to take pictures of a car on a hero pass and things get out of
shape if the driver saves it but not if they don’t? Sorry, taking pictures/
video of the bad goes with the good. Being a jerk about it shouldn’t.
It doesn’t bother me. Once someone voluntarily ventures onto the public stage (e.g. a race track), their exploits and misfortunes are public. Crashes are part of the story.
If you want to hide your failures, stay at home.
Videos are taken whether someone ma
es a spectaular pass or unbelieveable wreck. Its part of human nature. Good or bad, people want to view it.
Also consider, not everyone who whips out a camera phone is out to belittle / “celebrate the misfortunes” of another driver. As racers / hot rodders, most of us understand the risk associated with putting a vehicle on a track of any kind. Many times, photos and videos are the best way the community can share sincere appreciation / respect for the bravery and spirit of the person involved. How many times have these photos and video led to the online community “lifting up” the one who was involved as a hero and provided support in their time of need. Chad, I luv you man… but I think you’re a slightly off base on this one.
I find that it does annoy me how people act when something like that happens.
They treat it like it’s a joke and that does indeed piss me off. When someone gets hurt or loses their car, it’s not a joke, and it shouldnt be a race to see which douche parasite can get the video on youtube.
Just the same as this country has been demoralized as a whole, some of those people unfortunately show up at the track.
Uh, isnt that the reason people watch races like Daytona, Indy etc. The wrecks and the finish.
I LOVE YOU GUYS! This is exactly the response I was expecting.
I know it seems totally hypocritical for us to run crash video and photos all the time, although in a lot of cases the person knows we are going to be running them.
To take this to another depth, I was hoping that some of you would say that it depends on what happens to the guy. With regards to injuries I mean. When people start up with the photos or video, with no regard for whether the guy is injured or not, that’s what really bothers me.
In fact, we never run something if we don’t know that the guy walked away or that his injuries weren’t severe.
I agree with chad. No one wants to see someone get hurt or worse
It doesn’t bother me when it’s in the racing stage. It really bothers me when someone gets hurt, or is getting hurt out on the street from anything from a car wreck or getting snot beat out of them and no one is helping them, but they are all filming it with their cameras.
I agree with Scott,at the track,autocross,driving event,and even car show, we put ourselfs out on the stage,I hope I provided some entertainment to those who watch. On the street people need to think about helping others in need before just filming it and watching.
If a USA today can put blood covered military vehicle pictures on the front page of their newspaper I don’t see a issue of people taking pics of wrecked cars….Its not like we put them on the front page….http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/graphics/ied_five/flash.htm
There is no accounting for taste Will. I love your example of USA Today by the way. I don’t have issue with taking the pictures, as long as we understand that we need to be respectful and most of all aware of what is going on around us.
What’s the difference between taking pictures of a wreck on the highway or on a wreck on the track? Both are public domain and unless the track bans cameras it’s just as OK to take pictures there as it is on the road.
I wish I had videos of a couple of wrecks I’ve had on the track. As wild as the rides were, they must have been awesome to watch.
It’s human nature, like it or not. The problem for me comes when the person(s) involved can be helped but people are too busy filming it to be bothered lending a hand or they impede the access of those that are trying to help. I don’t necessarily like it, but it’s the world we live in.