Lightbars!?! Whats the deal?

[Chris Heater]

You mean something like when "I had them on August 19th and people actually ran a red light to get out of my way"?

Oh...you got me on that one. See why I have changed when I use my lightbar after that day? I don't feel like getting in trouble

 

[Kyle Soldani]

Ha, yea, not a good idea..

 

[rdale]

I could get sued for someone plowing into my vehicle?

If you are in a travel lane, and stopped, that is illegal. You have no authority to be there with your flashers on. Now if you stumbled upon an accident and were the only one there, you'd probably be still Good Samaritan'ed. But once the PD pulls up, they have the scene, and you no longer are protected.

 

[Chris Heater]

Ha, yea, not a good idea..

Learn from your mistakes right? August 19th was my biggest fudge-up day thus far but I learned a LOT! Several things to be changed on when to use the lightbar...LOOKING UP!!! Had I looked up just before I ran a red light (another fudge-up...and right in front of the cop too) a tornado started passing from right to left in front of us about a mile or so? I never looked up and saw it though! Lots learned though...and I think i'll be much more prepared in 2010 between that day and what i'll learn on this site

EDIT: rdale....what if the cop asks me to stay there? That's happened on more than one occasion where a wreck occurs in the center lane and has the two lanes on opposite sides of the center lane blocked. I guess this is a good thing to know!

 

[Steve Miller]

Why exactly do Storm Chasers need light bars again? Is it a superiority/authoritative thing or a "look at me" thing?

 

[nickgrillo]

It's the "look at me" thing -- generally reserved for the "chasers" who haven't seen much...if anything.

Why exactly do Storm Chasers need light bars again? Is it a superiority/authoritative thing or a "look at me" thing?

 

[Ben Holcomb]

All this lightbar talk makes me want to go throw one on my truck.

 

[Steve Miller]

Nick, thanks for clarifying. Been chasing for 17 years and had never posed the question and had it answered clearly before. I'm all good now.

 

[rdale]

EDIT: rdale....what if the cop asks me to stay there? That's happened on more than one occasion where a wreck occurs in the center lane and has the two lanes on opposite sides of the center lane blocked. I guess this is a good thing to know!

You might be able to use that to help convince the judge of your innocence, but the law has no exceptions in it for "the cop asked me to." To be clear - if you stumble up on a scene and render first aid, or move traffic around (as a "normal" citizen would do) then you are all good. But once first responders are on scene, you no longer have that legal protection.

Think of it this way (and I exaggerate to make the point.) You pull up to an accident and somebody is gushing blood. You don't really know what to do, but try your best and the guy still dies. You are fine. You cannot be sued (well, I think maybe you can be sued, but it won't make it to a trial since you are protected under the Good Samaritan law.)

Now let's say you are driving past an accident and see a cop there. You walk up and tell him you've had training (neglecting to say it was just Red Cross first aid) and he says "go at it, the guy is gushing blood." You do your best, and he dies. You are now liable legally and can be sued.

 

[Chris Heater]

You might be able to use that to help convince the judge of your innocence, but the law has no exceptions in it for "the cop asked me to." To be clear - if you stumble up on a scene and render first aid, or move traffic around (as a "normal" citizen would do) then you are all good. But once first responders are on scene, you no longer have that legal protection.

Think of it this way (and I exaggerate to make the point.) You pull up to an accident and somebody is gushing blood. You don't really know what to do, but try your best and the guy still dies. You are fine. You cannot be sued (well, I think maybe you can be sued, but it won't make it to a trial since you are protected under the Good Samaritan law.)

Now let's say you are driving past an accident and see a cop there. You walk up and tell him you've had training (neglecting to say it was just Red Cross first aid) and he says "go at it, the guy is gushing blood." You do your best, and he dies. You are now liable legally and can be sued.

Ok much clearer now...thanks. Makes perfect sense. Usually, when police arrive i'll ask if i'm fine to go. The answer is normally "yes, go ahead" but there have been a few cases where the cop will ask me to stay with my vehicle to help traffic flow. Only happened 3 times so far...but thought I would pose the question

 

[rdale]

I don't want to scare you off from public service - but you need to know that if anything happens while you are doing so on your own accord (not a CERT team member directing traffic at the fair, or a police explorer doing it under official supervision, etc.) then you have a high likelihood of ending up in court. Even if the driver was drunk, if you are stopped in the roadway you can (and likely will) be in major trouble.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

True. Local law enforcement (at least in Central Illinois) knows my team now and what my vehicle's look like. I've always seem to have an irk for seeing an accident right in front of me at least once a month (or at least have a car stranded in some way), and the officer always asks me to have me direct traffic with my lightbar (it has an arrowstik). As you said...unless I did something asinine, i wouldn't see myself getting in trouble

For some reason I just can't believe this, honestly. Maybe once, but multiple times? Unless you are trained and have appropriate safety equipment (vests that meet the current standards, traffic light wands, etc), why would you be asked to do this? Especially if you are not part of some official agency? Otherwise you're a liability. And the cop has his own lights, why add yours?

I'm also glad you will be refraining from light use next year. I ran across you earlier this year in Peoria Co running your full sized amber light bar down Rt. 40 after the storm already passed and it was barely even raining out. There is just no need for that.

 

[Wes Carter]

Maybe I have a screwed up way of looking at this (as I do on a lot of things) but it seems to me that if you are the first person on the scene of an accident or some kind of disaster you should do everything you can to help.

But if you go out of your way to prepare for such scenarios (for example; installing light bars, spotlights, etc...) why not apply to the police academy or become a firefighter? From what I've seen they can always use good motivated people. Maybe I'm missing something though, I don't know.

But when it comes to chasing storms, I'd rather people out on the highway not know what I'm doing. I don't want a slew of cars following me to 'see the tornado'. It seems to me that even having a vehicle that somehow looks like an 'official chase vehicle' is asking for a lawsuit if you lead a convoy into a bad situation. You would probably win, but it still costs out the wazoo to defend yourself in court.

 

[Jesse Risley]

Maybe I have a screwed up way of looking at this (as I do on a lot of things) but it seems to me that if you are the first person on the scene of an accident or some kind of disaster you should do everything you can to help.

I'm no barrister of jurisprudence, but it's my understanding that there is a difference between rendering immediate aid to the victims of an emergency, which likely would protect you as a good Samaritan, and being at the scene using something like a light bar to redirect traffic, which sometimes causes accidents even when the police are the ones doing traffic control and acting in their official capacity. There have been published stories of volunteers in various capacities being held civilly liable for traffic accidents that were caused by them attempting to 'help' direct traffic, etc.

 

[Wes Carter]

I'm no barrister of jurisprudence, but it's my understanding that there is a difference between rendering immediate aid to the victims of an emergency, which likely would protect you as a good Samaritan, and being at the scene using something like a light bar to redirect traffic, which sometimes causes accidents even when the police are the ones doing traffic control and acting in their official capacity. There have been published stories of volunteers in various capacities being held civilly liable for traffic accidents that were caused by them attempting to 'help' direct traffic, etc.

Read the rest of my post, starting with the very next sentence that starts with 'But'...

But if you go out of your way to prepare for such scenarios (for example; installing light bars, spotlights, etc...) why not apply to the police academy or become a firefighter?