An out-of-control Corvette sailed right into the crowd.
Burnout competitions can be fun events, as long as you don’t mind inhaling a bit of tire smoke. However, one held recently in Sweet Home, Oregon had a violent conclusion after a C7 Corvette driver lost control, the American sports car sailing into the crowd.
Watch a Ferrari owner ruin a car meet in an instant.
According to local paper The New Era, five people were injured and three were transported to the hospital. Among those hospitalized was a four-year-old girl. We can’t imagine the anguish of her parents.
Reportedly, the driver of the 2018 Chevy Corvette was a 70-year-old local man. Police said he has been cooperating fully with the investigation. Reportedly, alcohol and drugs are not suspected to be contributing factors to the accident.
There is footage of the crash, which appears to be taken via a drone, which we’ve included. The Corvette plowing into the crowd and the aftermath has been blacked out, a decision we think is prudent considering it sounds like some of the injuries were pretty serious.
In the video, we can see the convertible Corvette starting to perform a straight-line burnout with a cameraman crouching fairly close to get some footage. A crowd stands to the left of the sports car behind some plastic road barriers that are spaced out at fairly even intervals.
Right where the barriers take a jog to the left, the driver starts to lose control of the Corvette, which swerves left and right toward one of the barriers. It looks like a man is sitting on that barrier, which makes our stomach twist.
We know from firsthand experience that doing a burnout requires a driver to be not only familiar with a vehicle but also keenly aware of everything it’s doing, any inputs the driver is giving, the surface the car is on, and the vehicle’s surroundings.
It’s pretty easy for a high-powered, rear-wheel-drive car to get away from you if you get a little too careless or lax about the situation. After all, a burnout requires spinning the rear wheels while stopping the car from moving much. One false move and your ride can rocket forward, often torque steering to one side or the other.
We hope everyone injured in the accident makes a full recovery.
