County Officials Critical of Storm Chasers

[hazelmaryjackson]

Are some chasers impeding the rescue services in their desire to be in on the action?

This forum posting has been doing the rounds in the last 24 hours:

From James R Stillman:" I am a retired firefighter from Wichita and what I just saw is nothing new. We were running on people trapped in a house and a white van from Colorado with a storm chasing tour was blocking the road and he actually argued with us that he had paying people with him and he would move as soon as everyone got their photos.

"O & Ks state troopers have had so many complaints that they are starting to ticket chasers for reckless dirivng more liberally.

"I was listening to the radio Friday night and just on the Fire dept radio heard three radio transmissions of chasers impeding their efforts." (Ends)

Now I do not know James Stillman or how accurate it is what he says, but if only part of it is true, it is worrrying. Is there a code of ethics for Tour companies and chasers to sign up to, to state for example that they will not knowingly impede the rescue services when a storm is in progress.

 

[rdale]

Of course there is no "code of ethics." I didn't see any reports of liberal ticketing, or chasers impeding response efforts, but real examples might help. And if Mr Stillman is a retired FF, I don't understand what he means about responding to a fire call?

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Just posted in this morning's KC Star:

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/16/3557568/county-officials-critical-of-storm.html

The article came from another article whiche appeared in the Salina Journal here: http://www.salina.com/mobile/story/storm-chasers-41512

Kansas is going to become increasingly intolerant of this situation.

 

[Christopher E. Kincaid]

I was near Salina and saw the KS State Police block the road on I35 so the chasers could not continue chasing the storm. I was lucky and was able to go into town and go around the mess of chasers stopped on the road. I really saw some crazy stuff some of the chasers did. I saw one stop suddenly on a 2 lane paved road and do a U-turn in the middle of no where. The traffic was going 70+. Just watching SN on GR3 you can see the trains of chasers and most chasers probably don't use SN. Without reading the articles since I am at work and just basing this on how the police were reacting to the confusion of the storms and the chasers, I can see them cracking down soon. I don't know what they will do though. Maybe they will close roads during warnings when tornadoes are spotted.

 

[rdale]

Make sure we search how many times this thread has come up in the last 10 years before trying to rebeat a horse that still hasn't come back to life

 

[Rob H]

If they want to ticket idiots for not making way for emergency vehicles I say go for it because they'll never snag me doing that. They can't ticket me for being on a public road, driving the speed limit. The several emergency responders that we talked to on Saturday were all thankful for our information and some even let us through roadblocks and wished us luck.

Out of the 350 vehicles (ha), I'm guessing 2/3rds of them were people from the surrounding 3-4 counties. It's their own friends, co-workers, relatives, and neighbors that are being stupid. Not the real chasers (for the most part).

 

[Adam Simone]

Of course there is no "code of ethics." I didn't see any reports of liberal ticketing, or chasers impeding response efforts, but real examples might help. And if Mr Stillman is a retired FF, I don't understand what he means about responding to a fire call?

He could be a volunteer now or could have been close by and was going to help.

 

[rdale]

True, he could be a volunteer but in that case he wouldn't be retired

My point is - I highly doubt that a van would block the road for a fire truck. But I am willing to be surprised if evidence can be found...

 

[Timothy Finn]

I know I am new to this, but it's indicative of people's inconsiderations.

I used to be a volunteer firefighter way back in the day, so I know the importance of letting emergency vehicles through. I decided when I got into this, that two things needed to be done, straight away:

1. Learn more about forecasting.

2. Perhaps more importantly, learn the etiquette involved with the activity.

I knew before my first chase to not speed like a mad man, not park in the right of way on the highway, not hold up emergency vehicles, and to render aid if needed.

It's not complicated, either. It's all good common sense.

Tim

 

[Joshua Nall]

It is discouraging no matter who it is being stupid. It’s like in a storm environment people lose their sense of common courtesy… the laws no longer imply.

And why the heck would people get out of their vehicles and stand on the white line or park on the white line with traffic coming from both directions. I think if you were there you would have something to say about it also. That is acting like a moron, as the article said. It greatly hinders traffic flow, emergency vehicles, etc... and is dangerous for those doing it. Why can’t people just not do it? I am astonished at it again every time I see it. I realize everyone has their own personal stories, but I had a car passing stopped cars coming in my direction and I literally had to stop on the two lane road to keep from hitting them. Not to mention the times I had to slow way up for people standing on the white line taking pictures. Don’t they understand you can’t move over with traffic coming in the opposite direction. Just shaking my head….

My concern is not “chasing being outlawed†as has been discussed so many times before, but there is no way the good outweighs all the bad that comes along with it now days, and it is discouraging… whoever it is doing the stupid stuff. And we all make mistakes, so I’m not really addressing those either, just the mindless stuff…. Not yielding to emergency etc… Law should always come before getting the glimpse of the stupid tornado.

 

[Jason Haller]

I witnessed so on the storm that dropped the ef-4 south west of Salina, KS and moved north east. Followed that storm for a good 4 hours. Ran into several situations were emergency vehicles with lights and sirens were not given the right away. They got stuck in the Chaser convoys many times. If every one would pull over and let them by it would go along way to smooth our relations with law enforcement. Also saw some very reckless cars doing there best NASCAR race reenactment ducking in and out of the chase convoy. Don't know if he was a chaser or not (no light bar or antennas) but he was easily going 90 to 100 mph down the wrong way on a very hill road. If you were a chaser then I hope chancing a head on collision was well worth save maybe a minute with your "very Cool" driving.

This was my first experience with a "Chasing Convoy" and I will hope that we as a chasing community could draw up some "Chasing rules of ethics". All it will take is one chaser doing the wrong thing, lives are lost and pressure will be put on government to put a stop to Storm Chasing.

 

[rdale]

I will hope that we as a chasing community could draw up some "Chasing rules of ethics"

Those violating the "rules" are not in the community now, so it accomplishes nothing. Sort of like banning trained citizens from carrying a gun near a school. All that means is only criminals will have them.

All it will take is one chaser doing the wrong thing, lives are lost and pressure will be put on government to put a stop to Storm Chasing.

Since you're new you get a pass As we've discussed countless times, there is absolutely no enforceable method of preventing storm chasing.

 

[mikedeason]

Code of ethics, regulations and laws, increased ticketing, etc...it's all been rehashed for at least 20 years now. The reality is that if you're going to continue to chase, you're going to have to put up with the crowds and irresponsible behavior on a growing scale. It only stands to reason as it becomes easier and easier for people of casual interest in severe weather to get on the roads and "chase", you're going to have a larger number of inconsiderate idiots out there. The "good old days" are too far gone now and this is the price to be paid as so much of the public has been, and continues to be, exposed to chasing.

The worst part of all this is the mass desensitization that grows with each season. There was a time when getting closer than a mile to a tornado and chasing at night were taboo subjects in chasing. Now, it's norm. The mysterious has been demystified, the boundaries have been pushed and there's no going back. If you want to be a chaser, you'll deal with it. If you get sick enough of it, you'll be like me and decide to sit on the sidelines.

 

[Jason Haller]

Those violating the "rules" are not in the community now, so it accomplishes nothing. Sort of like banning trained citizens from carrying a gun near a school. All that means is only criminals will have them.



Since you're new you get a pass As we've discussed countless times, there is absolutely no enforceable method of preventing storm chasing.

I would not to like the government to give it a try. Selective enforcement of banning cars from the road in an area with an active tornado warning, Getting a court to subpena spotter network logs and enforcing any violated traffic laws. More to that point is I don't want to see a reason for them to come up with a law and a good faith effort by the chaser community to regulated them selves will go a long ways to preventing them for finding a reason to pass laws forcing regulation or banning.

 

[Stan Rose]

...I don't know what they will do though. Maybe they will close roads during warnings when tornadoes are spotted.

They could look at it as a source of revenue. A couple days before hand, set up a perimeter around a potential high risk area, at highway checkpoints, and charge a fee (based on number of antennas on your vehicle, along with added fees for hail gaurds, light bars and the like...) Pay to play...