Stunt Driving

When we watch movies, there always seems to be some awesome car chase scene where you are forced to sit on the edge of your seat as people weave in and out of rush hour traffic all on the big screen. Sometimes, stunt driving takes place in real life with police chases and drunk drivers as well as aggressive drivers. However, there are a lot of hidden dangers when it comes to stunt drivers. The trick is making it look easy.

So, you've finally decided to go and see that new James Bond movie. When the movie begins, the first twenty minutes is nothing but stunts: people driving erratically, falling off the sides of building, blowing stuff up, getting blown up....you get the idea. Do you ever wonder about the people that do all of those stunts, especially the stunts that involve driving? Technology has certainly evolved today where we can't even tell half the time whether someone is actually driving a car fifty feet through the air or whether it's been digitally enhanced to look that way. Well, regardless, there are still plenty of stunt drivers out there who are putting their lives at risk every day.

So, how does one become involved as a stunt driver? There are some people, believe it or not, who decide that they want to do stunt driving for a living. Crazy, I know. For these people, you are not born a stunt driver; rather, you have to attend a driving academy. It's like going to school to learn how to do dangerous things safely. One of the more famous stunt driving academies is the Motorsports Driving Academy. The purpose of driving academies like this one is to give the driver not only a more solid background in driving, but also to inform them as to how the stunt driving industry works. Contrary to popular belief, simply attending an academy like this one will not get you placed in a job, although it would certainly look better than not having any sort of background.

People who are interested in stunt driving usually (though not always) land roles in TV shows, commercials, factory demo teams as well as factory safety test drivers. They may also appear as stunt drivers in major motion pictures; after all, we don't really want to see our favorite actor/actress getting hurt, now do we? Another benefit to being a stunt driver is that it typically makes that person a better driver! Who would've guessed that?! You'd think that putting your life on the line every day would mean that you would automatically get paid a lot of money, right? Well, as it turns out, what stunt drivers get paid really depends on whatever budget the movie/TV show, etc. is working with. For example, low budget movies don't pay a lot of money, if any. Stunt drivers would be lucky to earn $100/day on these types of movies. However, if the movie is higher budget, stunt drivers can expect to get paid upwards of $600/day.

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