New Jersey car racing fans may have heard that on May 30, a safety worker was injured following the end of a race that was taking place at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. The accident, which occurred after the completion of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, left the worker with broken ribs and a collapsed lung, among other injuries.
It appeared that rain occurred right at the end of the race. In order to avoid pitting to change out the tires for rain tires, teams reportedly attempted to finish the race as fast as possible. A driver reportedly lost control of his vehicle due to the slick conditions. His vehicle collided with a safety truck and caused a multi-vehicle pileup into the raceway’s tire barriers. The accident left safety workers scrambling to get out of the way.
It was not known exactly how the safety worker became injured. It appeared that part of the cause of the crash was that a yellow flag had been issued and the safety trucks were sitting right behind the finish line. Ultimately, the situation would have reportedly been dangerous even under drier conditions.
Employees often face certain risks when they are on the job, and it is the responsibility of the employer to mitigate known risks to the best of their abilities. Despite all precautions, however, workplace injuries can and do happen. In some cases, an attorney may be able to help an injured employee file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits that could include the provision of the necessary medical care to the worker as well as a portion of wages lost during the recovery period.
Source: Yahoo, “IMSA safety worker injured in end of race crash at Detroit“, Nick Bromberg, May 31, 2015
