Dan Wheldon Crash Video Haunting in More Ways Than One

The Dan Wheldon crash video is making its way around YouTube. After the Indy 500 winner had his fatal crash on Oct. 16, it is inevitable that the video of it will be replayed and remembered forever. But watching it only makes the death of Wheldon even more haunting than it already is.

ABC had an in-car look at Wheldon seconds before the crash, which means that the very last seconds of his life before it was suddenly and tragically ended were caught up close on national television. But right after the horrific 15-car pileup ended, the commentators unknowingly revealed some of the factors that could be blamed for the tragedy.

Moments after the wreck, the broadcasters talked about how the conditions of this particular race set things up for what they called "The Big One." There were 34 cars in the race, which was more than the usual amount for an IndyCar event. As they pointed out, that made it even more likely that cars which weren't in the original crash could get caught up in a pileup - just as Wheldon did.

Those circumstances and the high speeds at the Las Vegas Speedway made it even more likely that he would get into such a destructive crash, although no one anticipated that it would be this bad. But now that it has happened, there will be questions on whether the way the race was set up helped contribute to Wheldon's death, and whether it could have been different under normal settings.

His demise still would have come out of nowhere, especially since he just won the Indy 500 for the second time months ago. That victory gave him the chance to win $5 million with a victory in the season finale, yet he went from the highest of highs to the greatest of tragedies instead.

The crash video makes the ordeal even more tragic, since it showed Wheldon up close in the last moments before his death and then unknowingly began the conversation on whether this sort of thing could have been avoided or foreseen.

When Dale Earnhardt lost his life 10 years ago at the Daytona 500, it spawned a huge debate over safety and led to more serious measures like the HANS device. A decade later, one of the Indy Car circuit's most well known drivers has died on the final race of the season instead, and a similar debate about the cars and the tracks they ride on will surely begin when the dust settles.

The evidence of what could happen if more foresight isn't used will forever be on video, and forever be relived in the horrible story of Dan Wheldon's crash. Even before everyone realized how terrible the pile up really was, those who watched it on ABC were reminded of how it wasn't that big of a surprise.

Sources

YouTube- "Horrific 15 Car Crash 2011 IndyCar World Championships in Las Vegas 300"