Chaser Tag Along Liability

[Jesse Risley]

Being an ex-lawyer, i naturally thought about liability issue when we ran our tours a few years back. Rather then recreate the 'book', we borrowed the basic format of several established companies' forms, then added our own take on them. Basically, we made people acknowlege every conceivable risk and acknowlege they understood what they were getting into, plus the usual things like referral to arbitration, waiver of jury trial etc. The bottom line is that these forms are important to spell things out, but you can't have someone sign away their right to sue you if you do something negligent. So, for example, if someone's following you and you decide for kicks you're gonna play chicken with an EF-3, and that person follows you and gets hurt, you're in trouble no matter how many forms they signed. Also, if someone gets hurt or suffers damage, they obviously may decide to sue you regardless of the merits of their claim. There's no way to prevent that, so it's something to at least consider if you are taking people chasing with you.

Just to echo what Stan said, based on my original thread I did seek some "free" legal advice from someone in the field and was basically told the same thing.

1. Taking minors was not suggested to be a good idea, because it leaves open more interpretation. I was getting requests from some of my high school students to storm chase, and while I was initially getting mixed messages from the administration, the school finally decided that they have reservations against this too. I'm still taking a couple of very serious students, who are likely to pursue meteorology, "under the table" so to speak, but if this ever comes out I'll likely be looking for a new job.

2. It is indeed a good idea to have forms like Stan suggested, but I was also told that nothing will prevent you from being successfully sued IF the other party can prove that you were negligent. I was told that basically anyone can try and sue someone for most any grevience. Whether or not the said lawsuit makes it through successfully is another matter, but as I understood it you can be sued by someone whom you allow to "follow the convoy" so to speak.

My advice - If you are going to allow someone to tag along, make sure you trust the person and hope for the best, but expect the worse too. Generate a legal form and have it approved by an attorney if you are very concerned. My understanding is that chasing lawsuits are rare at best, since I have yet to meet any chasers who have been sued like this. There is always a first time for everything.

 

[T. Mosley]

Didn't you guys see Twister? Everybody knows that chase caravans are a good thing - NOT.

However, just like in Twister, I have seen tagalongs follow, or try to follow, other chasers whom they felt were worth following. Just like anglers following better fishermen on a lake, also unwanted company. In cases like this, I can't imagine any liability on one's part, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for the safety and well-being of someone in some other car, especially if they had little or no experience in storm pursuit.

Personally, I have never had a problem with this, but how often have I heard of some dope chasing after chasers, sometimes with the wife and kids in the car as well. Here we cross the line between misapplied enthusiasm and outright irresponsibility. Let us not forget, chasing can certainly be a risky hobby, at least as much so as skydiving. Just try telling your insurance carrier that you are a storm chaser, and watch him pale.

Although I never had anyone follow me (that I knew of) or carried a novice along, my rules for such would be: stay out of the way, keep quiet, don't touch anything, do as you're told, and, oh yeah - help pay for gas.

 

[Susan Strom]

A long time ago I tried a caravan or two, you know those long strings of eight or nine cars, and found it is not my cup of tea. But you have to try everything, right...

I am pretty laid back and easy to get along with, but I don't take passengers because they tire of the long miles, late hours, and especially my chase style (all night, lightning). I set up, shoot for a few minutes, tear down, move again, set up, shoot again, move elsewhere, and am always moving. Truthfully, not many up for that business, and that is perfectly okay. I chase alone, that's how I'm most productive. I do have a cell phone posse of a couple other lightning photographers, we call each other a couple times a night. We don't chase together, but we can compare skies and locations.

On the other subject, to me if someone is following a chaser, in my mind they are doing so at their own risk. They are still behind the wheel of their own car and they do have the freedom to go where they want. Blaming the person ahead of them seems weird to me.