3 storm chasers killed in 2-vehicle accident near Spur, Texas

[Dan Robinson]

I tried to put some of my thoughts into a blog post.

http://stormhighway.com/blog2017/march3117b.php

Honestly, what happened to Kelley is my biggest fear in chasing: causing an accident that gets someone hurt or killed. In fact, it is one of the reasons I drive a small car and likely will for the rest of my life. Lord forbid if the unthinkable happens, I'll have the smaller mass and more likely to take the brunt of the impact forces than the other vehicle.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I wrote several years ago that we might expect an average of one chaser death per year, following the tragic events in El Reno -- and the growing insanity around storms. The El Reno event was not the same as what just occurred, but the dangerous driving antics of other chasers (and non-chasers) were captured in multiple clips. Chasers (even those not in immediate danger) were running stop signs, failing to yield, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc. This behavior breeds more bad acts. The few chasers who called them out were heavily chastised and even physically threatened for "policing" the community. It's not so funny now.

I'll bet in a few weeks this will be forgotten and the circus will go full steam ahead. Sad.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I mean - what's the *worst* possible thing you could think of happening to you as a chaser? Getting hit by a tornado? The Twistex incident was horrible, tragic - but it isn't the *worst* thing. The worst thing is what happened to Kelley. The prospect of being directly responsible for taking someone's life should scare the wits out of everyone. Can you even think of *anything* more horrifying than that? If it were me in his shoes, I'd be glad I didn't survive. Nothing could ever make it fair to the innocent victims, but not surviving could only begin to be my tiny shred of penance. Forget the tornadoes - this is the nightmare that should haunt every chaser and be in the forefront of your mind during the chase. It has been mine and will be even more so now.

 

[Steve Holmes]

In fact, it is one of the reasons I drive a small car and likely will for the rest of my life. Lord forbid if the unthinkable happens, I'll have the smaller mass and more likely to take the brunt of the impact forces than the other vehicle.

What am I missing here, Dan? Small car vs. big SUV, doesn't the SUV have the advantage through weight and mass?

I'll bet in a few weeks this will be forgotten and the circus will go full steam ahead.

I am afraid you're right. There's something in psychology called the Optimism Bias. It encourages us to believe bad things can't happen to us (and that we can't cause bad things to happen). Same deal that keeps us from taking tornado warning more seriously. It can't happen here.

 

[Dan Robinson]

What am I missing here, Dan? Small car vs. big SUV, doesn't the SUV have the advantage through weight and mass?

Meaning if I make a mistake and cause an accident, it will be me that is more likely to fare worse than the occupants of the other vehicle. I'd rather be the one that pays for my mistake than the other person. If Kelley had been driving a Yaris, it might have made a difference for Corbin.

 

[Nace Gerhart]

I just started chasing in 2011 and I can admit that I exercised reckless behavior in the beginning. After a couple of close calls with both nature and on the road, I began questioning my own behavior. My biggest turning point came after Chuck Doswell's presentation at Chasercon 2014 titled Chasing's End of Innocence.

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[Dan Robinson]

This popped up in my Twitter feed tonight. The 13-fatality church bus head-on crash in Texas that happened the day after the Spur accident was caused by texting:

http://time.com/4721764/texas-church-bus-crash-driver-texting/

 

[Warren Faidley]

I just started chasing in 2011 and I can admit that I exercised reckless behavior in the beginning. After a couple of close calls with both nature and on the road, I began questioning my own behavior. My biggest turning point came after Chuck Doswell's presentation at Chasercon 2014 titled Chasing's End of Innocence.

Doswell also took flack at the time for presenting this -- at the same time Mike B. from TWC was on his victory tour after their own crew was nearly killed. I had no issue taking on TWC for promoting bad highway (and chaser ) behavior, even though they totally blackballed me in the industry for taking a stand.

The point has always been, you can still chase storms in an aggressive manner and be safe. You can still get as close as you want. Just don't endanger others, including EMS people who have to come to your rescue.

 

[Kevin R Burgess]

@Warren,
If I remember correctly,You've mentioned that the TWC had approached you in the past,and you did not agree w/ their terms.
What were their terms,and could it have lead them to chose a 'lesser', inadvisably qualified person, to produce their product...
As we know, Williamson had "LIMITED" chasing experience,(5yrs.?)compared to others,including yourself...
What can the 'weather market' learn from this tragedy ?

 

[Warren Faidley]

As I was writing this post,Warren 'WAS' on this thread...
After I posted it ,"he was still there'''
3min. later, "HE LEFT", w/out responding...

Hmmm...

I would certainly not consider anyone a "lesser" chaser than me. There are many people chasing who are more skilled at forecasting and videography than myself. We all chase for different reasons. I parted ways with TWC mostly because they began to support dangerous, irresponsible chasing and chasers. Like a lot of media, they drank the Koolaid -- thinking "life saving research" and "spotting" justified illegal highway antics and getting too close. They were also well aware some of the people they were promoting at the time were not completely genuine. They ignored reality in favor of ratings.

Let's not forget that three people are dead, and we should now be focusing on making chasing safer.

 

[ScottCurry]

I've been waiting a few days to post my thoughts on this thread. I wanted to wait for people's emotions to die down a little because I didn't want to get bombarded by dislikes for my thoughts.

Three storm chasers are dead. And it wasn't an accident.

One of the comments mentioned counting 4 stop signs that the driver blew through. To me, that is not a mistake as many have alluded to. That is a deliberate disregard for the law. Kelley Williamson was a criminal. You can't sugar coat it, or feel sorry for the guy. He deliberately broke the law by blowing through stop signs at 70+ mph. It was just a matter of time before one of those intersections wasn't empty, and he killed someone. He was playing Russian Roulette with a 5,000 lb SUV.

Shame on The Weather Channel for continuing to contract and air this guy. In my mind, TWC was complacent in the deaths of three storm chasers. They knew this illegal activity was taking place, and they encouraged it by continuing to contract with Mr. Williamson.

Had Kelley Williamson survived, he would have been charged with 2 counts of manslaughter or vehicular homicide, 4 counts of failing to stop at a stop sign, wreckless driving, and whole slew of other charges. He would have spent the rest of his life in jail. And he should have! He was a criminal, willing to commit murder by driving his vehicle in a grossly negligent manner.

I don't see this as an accident at all. I view this as a murder-suicide. Because that's what it was.

I feel deeply sorry for the families of Randall Yarnall and Corbin Jaeger, who were murdered by this criminal.

No storm is worth murdering someone over. Obey the law. Stop at stop signs. Stop at red lights. Drive the speed limit. Drive on your side of the road. Don't drive distracted. Pull over if you need to look at radar. Make the road and traffic laws your focus. Because if you don't - you could end up killing someone. And you'll have to live with that for the rest of your life.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I tried to put some of my thoughts into a blog post.

http://stormhighway.com/blog2017/march3117b.php

Honestly, what happened to Kelley is my biggest fear in chasing: causing an accident that gets someone hurt or killed. In fact, it is one of the reasons I drive a small car and likely will for the rest of my life. Lord forbid if the unthinkable happens, I'll have the smaller mass and more likely to take the brunt of the impact forces than the other vehicle.

That is noble and honorable of you Dan, but I prefer to be in the larger vehicle for safety - not saying I have never made a mistake, but I do have the ability to control my own actions, whereas I can't control the actions of others. So if someone hits me, I want to be cocooned in a safe vehicle. For work, I now commute weekly from Philadelphia to NYC, and when I took the job I traded in my sedan and leased a Volvo SUV. The higher driving position itself provides more visibility for safer driving.


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[rdale]

I wonder how much longer this thread will be allowed to continue before someone locks it...

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If you feel the need to lock the thread, submit a report to the mods for the offending posts.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I don't see a need to close the thread. This is an emotionally charged (and tragic) subject that needs to be discussed openly and honestly. Ignoring or modifying the reality of what happened, no matter what the opinion, is a mistake. If someone would have openly chastised the chaser(s) involved in the latest event, who knows, it might have prevented this tragedy. In the EMS world, we often have very open discussions about tragedies. It helps people heal, vents anger and eventually leads to better things.

 

[Justin Hassie]

I agree openly discussing something can help the healing process, but some posts are outright disrespectful to the deceased. Yes, if Kelley survived he likely would be charged with manslaughter. I don't think there's anyone that would dispute that. BUT HE DIDN'T SURVIVE. NOBODY DID. There's no denying that mistakes were made, but what's done is done. It's okay to be angry, but it's not okay to create more hurt and heartache by calling Kelley a murderer. I'm sure Kelley's grieving family and close friends have seen these posts. Remember, they are innocent in this as well, and reading some of these contemptuous posts won't help them heal. I truly hope that those who have thrown stones from their glass houses don't end up in a similar situation.