KTVU TV Reporter Gets Lucky Break As Vehicle Almost Hits Him And His Cameraman [Video]


A television reporter and his cameraman in northern California had both a close call and a lucky break on Tuesday morning, when a car crashed and careened towards them.

Alex Savidge and his cameraman, Chip Vaughan, were live on Mornings on 2, reporting on a commuter train derailment in Alameda County that injured nine people on Monday night. The Inquisitr reported on the story, where a train derailed due to a felled tree lying across the line. Two of the train’s cars derailed, sending one plummeting into a nearby creek.

In the latest incident, both Savidge and Vaughan were standing in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Mission Boulevard at Niles Canyon Road in Fremont when they had their extremely lucky break.

KTVU‘s Twitter feed shows a clip of reporter Alex Savidge, standing in a parking lot by a busy street and talking on air, just before there’s a loud bang and his cameraman, Vaughan, yells at the reporter to tell him to watch out.

As Savidge gets his lucky break and jumps out of the way just in time, a white car plowed into the exact spot where he was previously standing, almost hitting himself and his cameraman. The reporter can then be heard on the video clip saying they are both OK.

Savidge headed to his own Twitter feed and posted a message saying his heart was racing, but that he was all right. It was lucky that when Vaughan yelled to tell him to get out of the way, Savidge out of instinct jumped to the right. If he had jumped the other way, the car would apparently have definitely struck him.

Just as Savidge and Vaughan yelled to say they were OK, the car hit a light stand. In the next live shot, Savidge was obviously emotional as he said, “I am grateful to be OK, that’s all I can say.”

Vaughan told the media, “It happened in a split second. I’m just thankful he jumped the right way.”

After his lucky break in the vehicle accident, Savidge then hugged his cameraman, Vaughan, thanking him live on air. However, he went on to add a message to his wife, saying “I don’t know if my wife… she’s not watching. I haven’t been able to call her. I just want to tell my wife I’m OK.”

Reportedly, Fremont police then responded to the scene of the accident, where it appears a white sedan was turning right when it turned into the path of another car and the two vehicles crashed.

According to the police, they believe the woman driving the white sedan may have accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes, causing the vehicle to careen over the sidewalk towards Savidge and his cameraman.

Fortunately, besides the lucky break experienced by Savidge and Vaughan, neither driver involved in the incident was injured. Both the reporter and his cameraman were soon back in the office, safe and sound.

According to SFGate, Savidge later told colleagues at KTVU, “I’m still processing it all. My heart is still racing. I’m still processing it all.”

“I am grateful to be OK, that’s all I can say.”

The police are reportedly investigating the crash, but KTVU reports “everyone is OK.” Apparently the camera – which did get hit by the car – remained upright, so even the equipment got a lucky break on Tuesday morning.

Just in case you couldn’t view the video above in your browser, another version is included below.

[Photo via KTVU video]

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