Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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CANARY ISLANDS — There's really only one thing to say after watching this video: thank goodness for guard rails.
The video comes from last week's Rally Islas Canaries event, an international rally racing event that takes place on the beautiful, winding mountain roads of the Canary Islands. During Friday's race, 24-year-old Polish racer Tomasz Kasperczyk had a bit of an unfortunate turn that was caught on camera in dramatic aerial footage.
In the video, we see Kasperczyk's car take a corner too fast, smash hard into a guard rail and almost fall down a very steep cliff. The car precariously teeters halfway off the cliff while Kasperczyk gets out and holds up a sign indicating that he's OK.
Amazing shots of Jan Černý's crash in SS4! 😶 - Crew OK! #FIAERC#JuniorU28#RallyIslasCanarias
— FIA ERC (@FIAERC) May 7, 2017
(©Jacomar Afonso - Thanks to @MotorADiario) pic.twitter.com/CwxRHPVU72
I'll be honest, despite knowing that Kasperczyk was fine after the crash, it felt like my heart might've actually stopped as I watched the video. It's really just astounding how hard the car hits the railing and how that railing still manages to hold the car up, even after being mangled from the impact.
Yesterday's Have You Seen This?
If you watch the whole video, you get to see the camera zoom in on the crash and replay it in slow-motion. It's worth watching the whole thing, if only so you can be thankful that our modern safety measures actually work.