Warning: the video above contains footage of the accident that took the lives of three spectators.

Rally racing, like any other kind of motorsport, is dangerous. It's dangerous simply because of the laws of physics: heavy things traveling quickly can cause lots of damage to our relatively soft, fragile bodies. But sometimes, it's more dangerous that it should be--or than it has to be.

This is one of those cases. While spectating from a hill on the outside of a fast, decreasing radius corner, three rally fans were killed and one other was injured when a car left the course at high speed, reports the AP.

While the nature of rally racing makes it nearly impossible, and at the least prohibitively impractical, to police the entire span of the long and often remote courses, there are certain basic safety considerations that must come into play when attending.

Some of those considerations include: not spectating from the outside of a tricky, high-speed corner; not spectating from a location where there are no barriers between the cars and the crowds; not spectating from a place where a driver can't see you; and, in the case of the 1970s, not spectating from the middle of the course itself.

Modern rally has largely taken care of these issues, by establishing safe viewing areas for rally's notoriously hardy and rabid fans.

At this year's Tara Hill Climb in Serbia, almost all of these considerations were ignored--by both spectators, and according to the poster of the video (which was dug up by Jalopnik) the organizers of the event as well.

It's a tragic outcome, but it was completely preventable, even if the crash wasn't. We all play a part in racing spectator safety, so be alert, be aware, and be careful out there.