The demo races are only 3 to 5 laps long, so it's not the end of the world if you get shunted off. I think people generally cry about it a little too much and sometimes the incidents in the first few turns can be quite funny (well to me). I've also found that learning to avoid the carnage and staying out of trouble, if practiced enough, can gain you places because a fair of the faster drive have their setups rigged up so much on the edge that they often fly off, the minute they go off their racing line. Plus, people overtaking, need to remember that the peripheral vision on LFS is not the same as in a car, so it's better to give consideration to that. Especially to people doing 1.19 round blackwood demo circuits.
Maybe it's just luck but I've never found it as bad as some people post on here