A preliminary investigation into the death of Joi Harris, a 38-year-old stunt woman, on the sets of Deadpool 2 earlier this month, was the result of a freak, low speed accident. Joi was driving on a plane surface at a speed of 10 mph.
Deadline quotes an investigation report by WorkSafeBC, dated August 15:
“A temporary worksite had been setup to record a film scene for a movie production. The site had been cordoned off from general public and traffic by the Vancouver Police Department. The worker had been rehearsing a stunt scene that involved driving a motorcycle, Dictate 939 Hyperstrada, out of the open doors of a building, across a concrete pad and down a ramp that had been built over three stairs and coming to a stop on the stair landing. During the first shooting of the scene the stunt driver continued driving beyond the planned stopping spot on the stairway landing, and continued to drive down a second ramp built over the bottom stairs and across the roadway. The motorcycle struck the concrete sidewalk curb, the worker was thrown off the motorcycle and propelled through a plate glass window of a building.”
The crash happened in second unit photography. Joi had reportedly completed five takes of the sequence. It was during the sixth take that the fatal mishap occurred.
Joi, a licensed bike racer with the American Sportbike Racing Association, had been racing since 2014. This was her first job as a stunt driver. She was not wearing a helmet during the sequence, as her character in the film did not wear one.
