Reed Timmer unsafe acts

[Jason Boggs]

So, the other day I was watching Reed's stream, and I was very disappointed in his behavior. I was hoping he would grow up at some point and learn to do the right thing, especially with as many followers as he has. Chasers, especially the young one's will copy what he does thinking it's ok, but it is far from ok. To get to the meat of this post, he ran several stop signs and was speeding on wet roads. Bob Menery is actually heard in the backseat telling him to slow down. When are we going to learn?

3:52:00 is only one example of a blown stop sign

 

[rdale]

We have learned that extreme chasing pays well. That's the lesson from all of this.

This should not be a surprise to those who know Reed's true intentions.

 

[Jason Boggs]

We have learned that extreme chasing pays well. That's the lesson from all of this.

This should not be a surprise to those who know Reed's true intentions.

I have to agree with you Rob! It's out of control!

 

[JamesCaruso]

Sorry @Jason Boggs , I can’t bear to watch any Reed Timmer videos anymore, I just can’t take him screaming like an adolescent girl at a Harry Styles concert.

 

[James K]

I watched part of that stream live as well..
I have no idea who that Bob guy is .lol. it seems most of the comments were related to him.
To me there was nothing scary about that storm, what was scary was all those blown stop signs.
I was sitting there thinking "you just blew another stop sign"
Honestly that's the worst I've seen, Reed has generally been better about following traffic rules in other streams I've watched.

Oh and how old is 'drone boy' anyway? . . Should he even be out in such dangerous weather, especially with someone who purposely gets so close?

-----
Actually its not just Reed, but what has gotten into chasers (in general)? - particularly in the last 6 months or so? Getting too close, maniac driving, etc...

 

[Andy Wehrle]

I watched part of that stream live as well..
I have no idea who that Bob guy is .lol. it seems most of the comments were related to him.
To me there was nothing scary about that storm, what was scary was all those blown stop signs.
I was sitting there thinking "you just blew another stop sign"
Honestly that's the worst I've seen, Reed has generally been better about following traffic rules in other streams I've watched.

Oh and how old is 'drone boy' anyway? . . Should he even be out in such dangerous weather, especially with someone who purposely gets so close?

-----
Actually its not just Reed, but what has gotten into chasers (in general)? - particularly in the last 6 months or so? Getting too close, maniac driving, etc...

Perhaps @Warren Faidley was right with his "Reloading of Aggressive Chasing Era Begins" thread. I feel lucky I didn't encounter any egregious bad driving or "conga lines" at Keota a week ago yesterday (perhaps the few cars in front of and behind me on Highway 1 were also chasers, but nothing like at Mangum, OK on 5/20/2019). I was essentially alone at my main observation spot on Highway 92.

 

[Stan Rose]

I don't condone blowing stop signs, but in partial defense to Reed from what I saw they were signs at a wide open intersection in the middle of nowhere...and I doubt one chaser in a 1000 would have come to a full stop for those signs while in a crucial part of the chase. I watched three of his live streams in a row, all essentially busts, which may be a byproduct of what happens when you are too distracted by trying to make a boring chase seems interesting. The really dangerous thing I saw was the white subaru blowing by Reed's stopped vehicle at aa high rate of speed on the side of the road--they joked about that nearly killing them, but it was no joke. That made Reed's behavior seem like someone who was taking their first road test.

 

[rdale]

There is never an excuse for completely blowing a stop sign.

Ever.

Never.

Does that mean come to a 100% stop and wait 3 seconds? No.

But there was absolutely no way of guaranteeing a 100% clear intersection in heavy rain while pursuing a storm, so justifying it because there was a car behind him makes no sense.

 

[Jeff Lieberman]

I don't condone blowing stop signs, but in partial defense to Reed from what I saw they were signs at a wide open intersection in the middle of nowhere...and I doubt one chaser in a 1000 would have come to a full stop for those signs while in a crucial part of the chase.

In 2017, a storm chaser blew through a stop sign in the middle of nowhere and killed himself, his passenger and a 25-year-old storm spotter driving through the intersection. The last thing we should do is look for ways to justify or minimize reckless behavior that jeopardizes the lives of others, especially when so many chasers try to emulate Reed Timmer. (Good luck in court with the "I was in a crucial part of the chase" and "everyone does it" defense.)

 

[Jason Boggs]

I don't condone blowing stop signs, but in partial defense to Reed from what I saw they were signs at a wide open intersection in the middle of nowhere...and I doubt one chaser in a 1000 would have come to a full stop for those signs while in a crucial part of the chase. I watched three of his live streams in a row, all essentially busts, which may be a byproduct of what happens when you are too distracted by trying to make a boring chase seems interesting. The really dangerous thing I saw was the white subaru blowing by Reed's stopped vehicle at aa high rate of speed on the side of the road--they joked about that nearly killing them, but it was no joke. That made Reed's behavior seem like someone who was taking their first road test.

I diasgree. The weather channel incident was a blown stop sign in the middle of nowhere in good conditions. Remember how that turned out???

 

[Jason Boggs]

In 2017, a storm chaser blew through a stop sign in the middle of nowhere and killed himself, his passenger and a 25-year-old storm spotter driving through the intersection. The last thing we should do is look for ways to justify or minimize reckless behavior that jeopardizes the lives of others, especially when so many chasers try to emulate Reed Timmer. (Good luck in court with the "I was in a crucial part of the chase" and "everyone does it" defense.)

Exactly!

 

[Warren Faidley]

I have to admit I'm rather disappointed with Reed. I thought maybe he had changed his ways. I was impressed with him after he assisted people to the hospital after the Rolling Fork, MS tornado.

There is no doubt that he is the luckiest chaser alive. When I think back at all the close calls he's had, it's a miracle he has not been seriously injured or killed, (or killed someone else). I'm even more shocked that sponsors like Flex Seal and Accu-WX continue to support him. He's a massive corporate liability. I lost sponsors when I was a distant 5 miles from a tornado....lol.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands to be made via live YouTube broadcasts. The competition is ramping up as more and more chasers jump on the gravy train. As experienced chasers, we might be disgusted with crazy chasing antics, but the public demands insanity and zero-metering.

Death, injury and massive legal issues are coming, it's only a matter of time.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Reed is facing a career evolution crisis. Similar to what I faced about 15 years ago, although he has a lot of chase-related options to support him. For over 20 years, I "dominated" the storm photography market. When cell phone cameras and the digital age came along, mixed with an influx of hundreds of new photographers, the market collapsed. Reed was "dominating" the close-up chaser action until recently. Every time he busts a forecast (like last week), there are plenty of zero-metering experts to fill the void.

YouTube is the King now days, not Facebook or Twitter clips. Gone are Discovery-type shows, as such productions have moved behind paywalls and no one watches because they want live, zero-metering. Today, there are at least 10 skilled chasers who aggressively pursue severe weather like he does, all with live feeds. Guys like Ryan Hall are dominating YouTube. He had over 150k live viewers at one point last week while Reed had less than 12k. All good things come to an end. The secret is not to become so aggressive in an effort to stay relevant that it kills you.

 

[Stan Rose]

I diasgree. The weather channel incident was a blown stop sign in the middle of nowhere in good conditions. Remember how that turned out???

Yeah, I sure do--I knew one of the people killed!
Again, I am *not* condoning the behavior. I didn't like seeing it either. I am merely pointing out that people in glass houses should not throw stones. And you never saw the video from the 'weather channel' incident so it is a false dichotomy to compare to this situation, which I did see. Maybe I missed some of the worst of it. I do agree that someone in his position (influencing other chasers and having a big audience) should go out of his way to be a safer driver, even though I guarantee you the majority of chasers have blown stop signs in similar conditions--again not an excuse, simply a fact.

 

[Stan Rose]

In 2017, a storm chaser blew through a stop sign in the middle of nowhere and killed himself, his passenger and a 25-year-old storm spotter driving through the intersection. The last thing we should do is look for ways to justify or minimize reckless behavior that jeopardizes the lives of others, especially when so many chasers try to emulate Reed Timmer. (Good luck in court with the "I was in a crucial part of the chase" and "everyone does it" defense.)

As I just pointed out, that is why it is a "partial" defense, cause he is still guilty of bad behavior, but to condemn someone completely because he is doing something countless other chasers are doing on every chase is just being oblivious to reality. I get that he is a 'role model' and therefore should be above trivializing traffic violations for the sake of getting a good chase video. But taking a 'holier than thou' attitude and telling adults to 'grow up' is not helpful IMHO.