West Virginia Reporter Accidentally Hit by SUV on Live TV

By Daniel S. Levine

West Virginia reporter Tori Yorgey was hit by an SUV on live television Thursday morning and continued to finish her reporting in icy, dangerous weather conditions there. Yorgey assured WSAZ anchor Tim Irr she was safe. The woman who drove the car that struck Yorgey later stopped to check if she was OK while Yorgey was still reporting.

Moments after Irr introduced Yorgey, who was reporting in front of a water main break in Dunbar, West Virginia, an SUV slid into camera view and knocked Yorgey right into the camera. The camera fell over, and Irr looked confused. "I just got hit by a car, but I'm OK Tim," Yorgey said as she got up. "That's a first for you on TV, Tori," Irr replied.

"We're all good," Yorgey said before she picked up her camera. The woman who drove the car could be heard asking Yorgey if she was fine. "I'm OK," she told the driver. "You know, that's live TV for you. It's all good. I actually got hit by a car in college, just like that. I am so glad I'm OK." Yorgey told the woman she was "so sweet" and she was glad the driver was OK as well.

Irr asked Yorgey other questions about the accident, but she was too shaken to answer. "I just saw my life flash before my eyes," she said. "But this is live TV and everything's OK." Next, Yorgey moved her camera to another location and finished her reporting from the scene.

Irr later explained on Twitter that he was not immediately aware of what happened. He only had a tiny monitor off to the side, about 20 feet away from where he was sitting. "Peripheral vision showed me movement of some kind," Irr wrote. "But only after she jumped up and said she was ok and explained what happened is when I realized it. Frightening moment for Tori. She's young, but is a pro for sure."

Coincidentally, this is Yorgey's last week at WSAV. The 25-year-old Philadelphia area native is moving back to her home state to join Pittsburgh's ABC affiliate WTAE-TV as a nighttime reporter, beginning on Feb. 1. "I want to cover as much of my home state as I can," Yorgey told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jan. 12. "I'm just excited to be back in Pennsylvania. I love it there. I'm excited to see what the Steel City has to offer and what's ahead for me there. It will be just a great step for me career-wise and also just in life."

While many praised Yorgey for her quick thinking and dedication to the job, many others thought the scene was a reminder of how dangerous live television can be. Yorgey was reporting by herself, without a photographer and in the dark. "Unbelievable. A complete disregard for safety. News Directors, STOP requiring reporters to run their own live shots," Temple Ricke, a journalist for Fox17 in Nashville, tweeted. "For those not familiar with the situation, she does not have a photographer. She is alone, in the dark."

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