thing | thing | thing > /file/I/didnt/mean/to/smash | thing

oops

thing | thing | thing > /another/file/I/didnt/mean/to/smash

oops

if you include > redirection, its parsed and processed before execution of the pipe. Even if the subsequent pipe execution moments fail, you have probably smashed /thing/you/didnt/mean/to/smash if you > into it