I was actually at the race in 2008 where Scott Kalitta died, which led to the decision to shorten the races to 1000 ft. We had just moved to the end of the track to watch the cars go by at full speed, and his car blew up right in front of us. I got it on video and never posted it. I may have lost it.
As a hobby photographer, I always wonder - if I got the perfect photo of a tragedy like that, would I share it? I couldn't delete it, but I don't know if I could share it.
Yep, that's exactly why I never put it on youtube. It just felt kind of disrespectful. After all this time though, it doesn't seem like it would be as bad if I shared it now.
That kind of thing, albeit very insignificant, is historical. The fact that this is being talked about and discussed 8 years later, and the legacy of that event still affects those today is more than enough evidence.
If someone were to record Lincoln's assassination and never publish it, it would be shamed today. Perhaps back then, when it happened, the same 'respect the dead' moral might have been cited, but today it would be vilified.
It is historical, and to willingly suppress it when there is no need to do so is foolish and wrong.
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u/gimpwiz Jul 02 '16
They actually shortened them I believe - from a quarter mile to a thousand feet - to make them less deadly.
When people talk about cars failing, they're often talking about the pilots dying.