Bloopers are a part of any television program that involves live broadcasts. Reporter gaffes and unforeseen circumstances are often humorous, especially when the folks on camera roll with the situation and find them funny, as well. A recent incident in Fremont, California was anything but funny, however, and correspondent Alex Savidge is lucky to have escaped with his life when he was nearly hit by a car, hard. Check out the close call!
It’s almost hard to believe that such an incident happened and was caught on camera. Of all the parking lots at all the 7-Elevens in all of California, a car had to crash into the one airing a live broadcast as part of KTVU news.
Luckily for Alex Savidge, cameraman Chip Vaughan was able to see the car in time for everybody to survive the incident unscathed. Considering how easy it could have been for Vaughan to dive out of the way without giving a heads-up to his on-air pal, Alex Savidge is fortunate to have such a great guy manning his camera. After all, the camera taking a hit is proof enough that the call was plenty close for Vaughan as well.
The KTVU crew managed to keep their cool in the situation to assure viewers of their safety. It was definitely impressive, but Alex Savidge later got the chance to share his real feelings on what very nearly happened to him. According to the reporter, he’s not quite over the scare just yet.
Every time I see that video, it freaks me out.
We certainly can’t blame Savidge for his heart still pounding whenever he relives the experience. Plenty of us have had terrifying experiences in our lives, but most of us don’t have those experiences immortalized on streaming video for easy re-watching. He’ll likely only get five or so minutes of fame outside of Fremont from this particular broadcast, but he won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.
Of course, Alex Savidge isn’t the only reporter to have a life-and-death moment on camera. A newscaster in Mexico was struck by a car during a story on sports, a South African news anchor was mugged on camera, and an Israeli reporter was actually stabbed while demonstrating what turned out to be a not-so-knife-proof vest. Not all live bloopers can be Steve Harvey crowning the wrong woman the winner of a pageant or meteorologists fumbling on camera.
All in all, Alex Savidge’s broadcast-turned-disaster could have ended up much worse for himself and cameraman Chip Vaughan. The entire incident unfolded in a matter of mere seconds, and I can’t say that my reflexes would have been quick enough to avoid being hit. Hopefully, Savidge will soon be able to get over the car narrowly missing him.
