5/19 Chaser Convergence

[Joey Ketcham]

I don't see how you can see over a big hill from inside your turret. From the video I saw I doubt you could see over the hill. The other side of the hill is low and there is no way you could have seen if a car was coming up the hill.

I agree 100%. The fact is, Sean Casey is the face of storm chasing right now. He has put himself out into the limelight and because of that, he is a representative of storm chasing. His reckless behavior gives all storm chasers a black eye. There is no way that what he did was safe, even if he was up in his turret. You can't see on the other side of a hill, especially one of that size, until you are on top of it.

Instead of manning up to his mistake, apologizing to all of us, and explain to us what he plans to do to ensure this never happens again... he comes on here giving excuses trying to justify his reckless behavior. There is nothing that will justify what he did, it was illegal and could have caused a serious accident. Luck was on his side that day and that there were no cars coming up the other side of that hill.

I understand his passion for wanting to get his shots for his IMAX movie, but in doing so he needs to do so safely and responsibly.

 

[rdale]

Thanks for your input Matthew.

People would not need to leave gaps in between vehicles

The law says you have to...

I don't even pass when there is only THREE cars in front of me.

It's illegal to pass TWO cars, let alone three. You're digging a bigger hole for yourself - might be better to revert to lurk mode.

If you drive in the oncoming lane you are only encouraging other people to do the same thing.

I hate when people post that crap. Someone breaking the law isn't an ENCOURAGEMENT to someone else to do so. If you do that - you did that on your own accord. Stop blaming everyone else for your errors.

 

[Melanie Kern-Favilla]

Stephen Locke here somewhat In defense of Sean Casey and the TIV regarding the "uphill video". I'm the green explorer in front that braked and pulled right to let Sean back in before the crest of the hill. If you watch close the TIV brakes first to get back in line behind me but I was second guessing him and also braked which required TIV to re-accelerate to pass me. My braking prolonged his effort to pass........[/B]...

But it wouldn't even be an issue if he wasn't passing ILLEGALLY in the first place. He shouldn't have been there.

 

[Brett Benson]

After arriving late to the circus on Wednesday and leaving early, I have decided to change when, where, and how I chase. My primary concern from now on will be to avoid chaser gatherings like the one I took part in on Wednesday.

I feel somewhat foolish to even be complaining about the converging hordes - the irony of complaining about a problem that (at least in this instance) I and many other ST members have personally contributed to (not through dangerous driving, but simply by being there).

As far as dangerous (I think deadly would be a better word) driving, there were other instances of it which either were not videotaped or simply haven't been shown yet. I was focusing on driving rather than filming, so I have no footage of what I saw.

After what I witnessed on Wednesday, I am convinced that someone will be killed by a storm chaser soon. After that happens, this hobby will change for all of us.

I, for one, plan to be far away when the first kill happens.

The chase on the 19th was the first time in a long time I violated a set of rules I have developed to guide my chasing activities. I developed them to intentionally restrict the chasing activities I seek to get involved in, mainly because I have to pick and choose carefully due to work issues, but also because of safety concerns. Put simply, I chase setups that occur on Fridays or Saturdays, west of I-35 (I am in DFW) and NOT in OK (because of convergence and terrain issues). I restrict myself to West Texas back to the metroplex, wide open spaces with little to no trees and lots of room to manuever, and concern myself with storm structure rather than the tornado itself. My experience in OK on the 19th just served as reinforcement for those rules, and I see no reason to violate them ever again. I waived off the chase on Hwy 33 when I arrived in Watonga, simply because of the mass of SN icons showing on 33 and 81, and headed southeast. I knew for every icon I saw, there were probably 10-20 other vehicles on the road as well.

 

[Mikey Gribble]

Jesus, 16 pages in one day? Seriously lol.
Chill out guys. Passing in a no passing zone isn't that big of a deal. Yeah you shouldn't do it, but its not going to reflect badly on other chasers. Seriously, who hasn't broken a traffic law when you're out chasing? God knows I have. I'm not going to do anything that needlessly puts other people in danger, but if I have to bend or break a few traffic laws when I'm on a tornado warned storm to chase effectively, then I'm probably going to do it.
Sean doesn't owe anybody anything. Lets call a spade a spade. He passed in a no passing zone on a tornado warned storm. There are bigger tragedies in the world.

Sirens and lights is taking it a bit too far IMO. Looking like an ass clown driving around with lights and sirens blaring should be punishment enough for the crime lol. I'll let the guy off on time served for that one.

 

[Benjamin Smith]

Jesus, 16 pages in one day? Seriously lol.
Chill out guys. Passing in a no passing zone isn't that big of a deal. Yeah you shouldn't do it, but its not going to reflect badly on other chasers. Seriously, who hasn't broken a traffic law when you're out chasing? God knows I have. I'm not going to do anything that needlessly puts other people in danger, but if I have to bend or break a few traffic laws when I'm on a tornado warned storm to chase effectively, then I'm probably going to do it.
Sean doesn't owe anybody anything. Lets call a spade a spade. He passed in a no passing zone on a tornado warned storm. There are bigger tragedies in the world.

Sirens and lights is taking it a bit too far IMO. Looking like an ass clown driving around with lights and sirens blaring should be punishment enough for the crime lol. I'll let the guy off on time served for that one.

Really? I'll call a spade a spade. Passing in a no passing zone is WRONG and ILLEGAL and WILL cause a tragedy SOONER rather than LATER. I really hope you were kidding with this post. Just because there are "bigger tragedies" in this world does not mean that what Sean did is "okay".

 

[Mike Moore]

Jesus, 16 pages in one day? Seriously lol.

I agree.

All I know is I've seen MUCH worse on just about every chase I've ever been on. There's always someone doing something... *gulp... illegal. Heck I've seen a lot worse on my morning commute!

But hey catch it on tape and by chance it's "The TIV" from Storm Chaser and you've got a hot scoop. Odds are if this was just some guy in a plain white pickup truck we'd never have gotten this far. I have been run off the back roads of South Dakota by yahoos several times LONG before I even discovered this forum. I didn't realize storm chaser-chasing would become such an event or I would have taken some video.

At least on the bright side if half of the people who are "enraged" by this "behavior" stop filming tornadoes and start filming traffic maybe we'll all sell more video.

I can see TMZ cars on the plains soon.

 

[MatthewCarman]

Jesus, 16 pages in one day? Seriously lol.
Chill out guys. Passing in a no passing zone isn't that big of a deal. Yeah you shouldn't do it, but its not going to reflect badly on other chasers. Seriously, who hasn't broken a traffic law when you're out chasing? God knows I have. I'm not going to do anything that needlessly puts other people in danger, but if I have to bend or break a few traffic laws when I'm on a tornado warned storm to chase effectively, then I'm probably going to do it.
Sean doesn't owe anybody anything. Lets call a spade a spade. He passed in a no passing zone on a tornado warned storm. There are bigger tragedies in the world.

Sirens and lights is taking it a bit too far IMO. Looking like an ass clown driving around with lights and sirens blaring should be punishment enough for the crime lol. I'll let the guy off on time served for that one.

He did not just pass in a no passing zone. He drove down the left lane for a ways and up a hill and an oncoming car would have hit him had one been going over the hill. He could have caused a serious accident and worse he could have killed someone. That to me is a big deal. He even said the only way he knew nobody was coming was his turret. It can't see over big hills.

Rdale you just further my point. Passing two cars is illegal and Sean was trying to pass a lot more than two cars. Yes he was encouraging people to drive in the left lane. If people see the TIV driving down the left lane they may think it is cool and be influenced to do the same thing. Sure they made the choice to do it but had the TIV not driven down the left lane they may not have been influenced or even thought of doing it.

The law does say you have to leave gaps between cars and I always do. I don't think it has to be very big though. Sean mentioned we should leave gaps between cars. I agree. My problem is if he was not driving down the left lane he would not have needed a gap to get back into the right lane.

We all make mistakes but this is the second time Sean has been driving in the oncoming lane. He took heat for doing it the first time and obviously does not care or he would not have done it again and he would be apologizing now which he is not doing.

My opinion around here does not mean much but I felt something had to be said and I said it. I will step out of this thread unless Sean has more to say. Again I thank you Sean for at least reading this thread.

 

[MatthewCarman]

This thread was started yesterday. So we have 16 pages in two days. Not that it really matters.

 

[Austin Funderburgh]

Really? I'll call a spade a spade. Passing in a no passing zone is WRONG and ILLEGAL and WILL cause a tragedy SOONER rather than LATER. I really hope you were kidding with this post. Just because there are "bigger tragedies" in this world does not mean that what Sean did is "okay".

I don't know Mikey so I won't speak for him, but I also hope he was joshing around.
Because if this: "If I have to bend or break a few traffic laws when I'm on a tornado warned storm to chase effectively, then I'm probably going to do it." ... is really a serious statement... Well, if someone can't see the problem with hundreds of chasers all breaking laws on the same road at the same time then I don't think there's much that I could say to that change that.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

This thread was started yesterday. So we have 16 pages in two days. Not that it really matters.

1 day 7 hours. (and 17 minutes for the person I know will correct me back lol) At least right now. Won't be two days till tomorrow morning.

 

[Jay McCoy]

Jesus, 16 pages in one day? Seriously lol.
Chill out guys. Passing in a no passing zone isn't that big of a deal. Yeah you shouldn't do it, but its not going to reflect badly on other chasers. Seriously, who hasn't broken a traffic law when you're out chasing? God knows I have. I'm not going to do anything that needlessly puts other people in danger, but if I have to bend or break a few traffic laws when I'm on a tornado warned storm to chase effectively, then I'm probably going to do it.
Sean doesn't owe anybody anything. Lets call a spade a spade. He passed in a no passing zone on a tornado warned storm. There are bigger tragedies in the world.

Sirens and lights is taking it a bit too far IMO. Looking like an ass clown driving around with lights and sirens blaring should be punishment enough for the crime lol. I'll let the guy off on time served for that one.

You cant be serious with this post. Are you saying its ok to break the law and risk people lives for some lousy video?? Are you saying "well since it is a tornado warned storm I have the right to break a couple of laws to get that shot even if it puts peoples lives in danger"?? And passing up hills on a narrow 2 lane road with no paved shoulder and hundreds of cars all over the place is much more dangerous than somebody speeding or passing a few cars on a desoltae western kansas road. There is NO justification for anybody but LEO/1st responders to have to pas in no passing zones and only when running code 3 and I will promise they will even pull to the right when coming up a blind hill.

I guess its fine for him to do it until he kills somebody then I am sure you will have plenty to say about how bad it was. Sean does owe us something. A promise not to pull that crap again. Funny hopw TWC showed chasers behaving badly but miraculously seemed to omit the TIV/Discovery guys since they are celebs and had been partnered with the DOW guys who TWC are now with.. hmmm.

 

[rdale]

1 day 7 hours. (and 17 minutes for the person I know will correct me back lol) At least right now. Won't be two days till tomorrow morning.

And it's only 5 pages on my settings.

 

[John Dissauer]

If they don't break any laws, how could OHP do that?

I'm thinking they could easily pull TIV over to make sure the car is "street legal". (I am aware that it is, but they might want to inspect it closer.) Highway Patrolmen can find lots of reasons to pull someone over. I.e. illegal lane change, etc.

If you get pulled over three or four times a day, without tickets, it could make your life a little miserable.

 

[James Langford]

And it's only 5 pages on my settings.

Ok, you now owe me a new keyboard. In the midst of the insanity of this thread, this one had me rolling!

Of course, depending upon your settings, you may not see this post....... ;-)