Safety in Motorsport Photography, is rallying safer?

[Chrisbie]

There have been a few accidents in recent years in rallying where members of the public and photographers were involved.
I recently attended the Neil Howard rally at Oulton Park.
As a race photographer I am aware of certain rules and always making sure you have an escape route. I saw this photographer though doing a few things I thought were very dangerous in so far as his proximity to the line of fire and his kneeling down. Later he actually sat down and was then asked to move by one of the marshalls.
Is the attitude in rallying not as safety conscious as racing?
Neil Howard Stages Rally - Oulton Park 8th November 2014 2014 022 by Lightprism, on Flickr

 

[pete.rush]

All because he managed some how to get the vest doesn't mean the authorities assessed whether he had much upstairs to do it safely. Don't get me wrong, there's a large group of dedicated media togs that work within the rules not only for their safety, but also aware of their positioning when it comes to the race drivers so not to cause a distraction. Then there idiots like this who only care about getting the shot no matter what.

 

[Willid1]

"Motorsport is Dangerous" says so on the ticket

We have all seen videos of cars ending up in the most unlikely places at the end of an accident.

You can of course say " well I think this place is not so safe" such as in a ditch on the outside of a bend, in an escape road at the end of a long straight with a sharp bend, and be clever enough not to stand there but the only way to be perfectly safe is to not attend.

I was at Santa Pod a few years ago when a spectator was killed by the ring gear from a disintegrating flywheel as the car passed the finish line. How could you have predicted that??

I must admit that for me the attraction of rallying has always been the ability to stand where you like and get closer to the cars, Silverstone vs a forest track on any stage rally you could name, no contest for me.

So to the OP question "Is the attitude in rallying not as safety conscious as racing?" yes I think it probably is but due to the nature of the beast it's a lot harder to control.

D

 

[Toggerman]

It is as safety conscious mostly, but it is just such a different type of event.

I photograph a lot of sprinting and AutoSolo and many times I have shot with nothing between me and the cars, but I've never felt unsafe. As there is only 1 car at a time it tends to be more predictable than circuit racing plus you only have to keep an eye on 1 car instead of 40. Obviously though the most important thing is where you position yourself. I always think about where I'm standing and plan where to run/hide if needed.

But like Pete says above, there are idiots out there who only care about getting their photo, and there are those who genuinely cannot see the danger they put themselves in. This year I have seen some properly stupid things in all forms of motorsport photography and no doubt I'll see more next year.

 

[DazJW]

You get a lot of personal freedom at a rally. If you look at any other activity where people get a lot of freedom or control, such as driving, some people are good at making decisions and some aren't. Some of the ones who are good at making decisions make the occasional mistake and a lot of people don't have all the necessary knowledge or experience to make good decisions all of the time, or simply don't care as they think nothing bad will ever happen to them. This equally applies to choosing somewhere to stand at rallies.
Photographers get called out on poor location choices at rallies a lot but all the worst stuff I've seen in person or on video was people watching without cameras.

Have a watch of some Group B era videos on YouTube or this from WRC Portugal in 1997. It's much less crazy now but there are still issues like the people at the side of the road after a jump in this one from WRC Sardinia 2014.

 

[Chrisbie]

Thanks Guys, great comments. The contrast here was that it was rallying on a circuit and using a lot of circuit marshalls. Hence the rapid response to the guy when he sat down in the line of fire (under 30 seconds )

 

[DazJW]

I'm sure a rally marshal would have had a word too, it's just that you can't cover the usual rally environment (e.g. the forests) in the same way as you can with a facility (race circuit, airfield, etcetera) based event so a lot of it goes unseen once the course cars have passed.

 

[KIPAX]

Because cars are big and can flatten you?

Sorry but the same rule applies for all sports.. try ice hockey.. warning are given out all the time.. within the last month a child was killed when a puck hit him in the face.... as a photographer you ahve to be wary of flying pucks and where you shoot from as best place are dangerous.... football you get players runnign straight at you and its not good if they land on you or slide into you.... theres lots of sports where....if you dont stick to guidlines then its dangerous... its called common sense

 

[Toggerman]

football you get players runnign straight at you and its not good if they land on you or slide into you.... theres lots of sports where....if you dont stick to guidlines then its dangerous... its called common sense

This time last year at the 2nd ever football match I shot from the sidelines I sat down on the grass to get the low angle. All was fine for the first 30 odd minutes then suddenly 2 players tussling for the ball just kept going and ended up on top of me and my bag, no damage apart from a cracked lens hood. Needless to say that I now have a stool that I can move from quickly if/when needed.

I remember now going back home and saying to the wife that I had 2+ years of shooting motorsport up to that point without an issue, yet 2nd time of watching blokes kicking a ball about and I get whacked and end up with something broken.