More Bad Chasing On The Road

[Doug_Kiesling]

Just going over all the video from Hurricane Wilma.

While out in Naples FL chasing Hurricane Wilma, Brian and I were filming people busting Curfew in downtown before the storm came in. The cops were everywhere.

Then down US 41 we see something coming towards us that at first I thought was the police swat and riot truck. Lights were flashing, and I'm ether going color blind or that was a deep redish amber strobe light in the front, not white. And they were driving with the strobes, not parked for look out, watch out for me. Their truck was plastered with StormStudy.com

I got it on video, here is the screen cap.

Who the heck are these guys. The police were asking if they were with us since we already got clearence since we were with the media.

 

[Tyler Allison]

From the video on their website they were with Fox news.

That's some serious gear they have on the truck.

 

[David Wolfson]

From their site, I'd say they're Dan Musten and John van Pelt -- North Carolina storm enthusiasts and hams not affiliated with any particular media outlet. Dan Musten apparently runs a video production business which may be found at www.musten.com. Dan's CS is apparently KD4RAA and John's is K4JVP. Just a bunch of "nuts" like the rest of us.... :wink:

 

[Robert Dewey]

Lights look orange to me... Judging by the photos on their site, they have a very NICE setup :shock:

Regarding the lights... To each their own, if it's a big deal the law enforcement will deal with it.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Must've have been refraction from the heavy rain. They look pretty amber/orange to me when you look at the close-ups of the setup on the web page.

All in all I like the educational aspect to this groups site. They certainly seem to be doing more than just looking for a buck. Looks pretty good to me! Definitely a sweet setup on the vehicle.

Tim

 

[John Diel]

I can see this one now..... Sorry, I guess it's not a big deal to me anymore. If they were doing something "illegal" then they deserve to be busted. If they had "clearance" being possibly affiliated with some TV station for the event, then they were OK.

They weren't red/blue or being used to purposely pull people over (at least not from the description). I'd say let LE do their job. Sounds like they were on top of the situation as it was.

As far as their site. That's some way slick gadgetry! That Trailer is very close to being a small video production trailer. Now THAT would be nice to have.

 

[Jason Boggs]

More bad chasing? Sorry, but I see them doing nothing wrong in the photo. Those lights are amber and not red or blue so I see nothing wrong with what they are doing. Just my 2 cents worth...

 

[Jay Cazel]

I took a look at there web site, and the picture. To me it does not look like red lights. But those guys do have some cool equiment, $16,000.00 for that satelilite dish on top of there truck that follows the satelilite while in motion for mobile interent, nice.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

What were they thinking!? Driving down the road with flashers in wind and rain? They should have been out on that pier like the guy in the avatar.

This all reminds me:

http://www.extremeinstability.com/stormpics/doug.jpg

All for the sake of a good laugh.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Yea, I don't see anything wrong -- unless they BS law enforcement. The
lights are fine and are a good safety feature. There seem to be so many chase, science and news trucks out there now days -- who cares as long as they are chasing without causing issues. I would guess we will see a lot more of these types of truck/light combinations next tornado season. A sign of the times and things to come I expect.

Mike

 

[Doug_Kiesling]

Ok, here is the weather conditions when we shot the footage of them running with the lights.

The hurricane force winds were over 5 hours away. We saw them coming from over a half mile away, there was no need to be running with strobes on what so ever unless they were only show boating for the cameras.

We were out shooting video of the major police presence in the area and thought they were some major police all purpose truck like we saw the day before Hurricane Frances.

There was no need for any lights on, not even high beams. The power to the area was still on, the street lights were still working, it was basiclly another pop up florida rain shower, nothing that would require even using your hazzards, let alone some of the brightest strobe lights I have seen.

The funny thing was, as soon as they passed by, the real police started stopping people out after curfew and the guys in the truck shut their lights off ASAP.

Strobes are great if you or others can't see you in a very low visablity situation. But if one can see you from over a half to 3/4 mile away in a lite rain, why do you need to run strobes?

Oh yeah, Mike, better TIVO MSNBC tomorrow night and Fox News between 7am and 2pm on Tuesday. I'm sure you will have boat loads of fun with my waxed and buffed shaved head on TV talking about Hurricane Katrina. I put on a couple of extra coats just to get that Goldberg look for you Mike :shock:

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Strobes are great if you or others can't see you in a very low visablity situation. But if one can see you from over a half to 3/4 mile away in a lite rain, why do you need to run strobes?

I'll agree with you on this count. I REALLY don't want to start the strobe/light bar debate again -- do what you please. However, the only real use for voluntary lighting (hazards, amber light, etc, -- just not regular headlights) if for increase visibility during low-visibility situation. We've had threads on this in the past -- folks running their light bars when it's really unnecessary. It tends to cast a bad shadow on chasers who do responsibly use their accessory lighting, as it only takes one or two cops to think you're impersonating official / law enforcement officials to outlaw accessory lights for all, or at least lead to more strict enforcement of the laws on the books.