Reed Timmer unsafe acts

[Warren Faidley]

The problem is that only worrying about yourself is an idiotic, egomaniac, selfish attitude on public roads. This is like a drunk telling people, "I have a few drinks before I drive. I'm very careful -- I'm a professional drinker, but please don't do what I do even if you see me doing it on social media."

No chaser is above the law. People watch live storm chasing and see idiots running stop signs, speeding on wet roads, driving distracted and committing other moving violations and they think it's the way it's done and it's justified. Just because you are a social media star and need to beat everyone else to zero-meter is no excuse.

BTW, I completely refused participating in the "Storm Chasing Anthology" because I felt the producer refused to call out the fakery and bad behavior in chasing -- which is more relevant than ever.

 

[Warren Faidley]

In fairness to Reed, I downloaded the entire 5 hour broadcast in high quality resolution and did a frame by frame forensic analysis. I wanted to set the record straight, since he recently posted on social media that I was posting false information here on ST.

From the beginning to around 4:09:10, I counted 6 events where he did not come to a full stop at stop signs. 3:48:24, 3:52:00, 3:57:03, 4:05:04, 4:08:45 and 4:09:00. Some were more egregious than others -- determine the risk factors for yourself. There may be more but I did not check after 4:09:00. Also, at around 4:08:00, one could argue that he is driving through a small town, littered with debris on the road, at an unsafe speed. I can understand missing a single stop sign (which is dangerous enough), or maybe slowing down to a crawl at a deserted intersection with 100 percent visibility, but this appears to be a driving style habit. Again, these are my opinions and I encourage the reader to determine the scope or legality of such acts on their own and not take my word alone.

I have nothing personal against Reed. I've only heard good things about him personally and I've always admired his educational accomplishments, along with his devotion to storm chasing and charity work. His assistance at disasters is noted. What I don't appreciate is his irritation with anyone (including me) when he does things that reflect bad on the chase community or endangers others -- then denies it and/or releases his fanboy piranhas on people, sometimes passively, as he recently did to me. He seems to be under the impression that he is somehow "special" and deserves to be treated different than the rest of us, including the enforcement of traffic laws.

I suppose I could release a "greatest hits" of his bad behavior to defend myself, but my intent is not to hurt or punish him, just humble him somewhat and maybe save his life and possibly others.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Kind of interesting to hear it straight from @Warren Faidley whom I grew up thinking of as the face of commercial/professional chasing...granted it's a much different landscape being the king of storm stock photography in the '90s vs. the "king" of livestreaming insanity now.

I don't remember I've posted it anywhere before or just thought it, but in my opinion W.T. is now the social-media-addled husk of a man who might once have been a credible meteorologist. Sad, really.

 

[Jason Boggs]

In fairness to Reed, I downloaded the entire 5 hour broadcast in high quality resolution and did a frame by frame forensic analysis. I wanted to set the record straight, since he recently posted on social media that I was posting false information here on ST.

From the beginning to around 4:09:10, I counted 6 events where he did not come to a full stop at stop signs. 3:48:24, 3:52:00, 3:57:03, 4:05:04, 4:08:45 and 4:09:00. Some were more egregious than others -- determine the risk factors for yourself. There may be more but I did not check after 4:09:00. Also, at around 4:08:00, one could argue that he is driving through a small town, littered with debris on the road, at an unsafe speed. I can understand missing a single stop sign (which is dangerous enough), or maybe slowing down to a crawl at a deserted intersection with 100 percent visibility, but this appears to be a driving style habit. Again, these are my opinions and I encourage the reader to determine the scope or legality of such acts on their own and not take my word alone.

I have nothing personal against Reed. I've only heard good things about him personally and I've always admired his educational accomplishments, along with his devotion to storm chasing and charity work. His assistance at disasters is noted. What I don't appreciate is his irritation with anyone (including me) when he does things that reflect bad on the chase community or endangers others -- then denies it and/or releases his fanboy piranhas on people, sometimes passively, as he recently did to me. He seems to be under the impression that he is somehow "special" and deserves to be treated different than the rest of us, including the enforcement of traffic laws.

I suppose I could release a "greatest hits" of his bad behavior to defend myself, but my intent is not to hurt or punish him, just humble him somewhat and maybe save his life and possibly others.

I agree. I have nothing against Reed either and honestly I pat him on the back for his education accomplishments and his storm chasing motivation. However, just because he's/was a tv star with Dr. in front of his name doesn't make him immune to traffic laws. I really hope he never has an incident out there.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I agree. I have nothing against Reed either and honestly I pat him on the back for his education accomplishments and his storm chasing motivation. However, just because he's/was a tv star with Dr. in front of his name doesn't make him immune to traffic laws. I really hope he never has an incident out there.

And thanks for having the guts to start this thread. Most chasers are afraid to even mention his name, like it's "Voldemort."

 

[Jason Boggs]

And thanks for having the guts to start this thread. Most chasers are afraid to even mention his name, like it's "Voldemort."

Thanks! Unsafe acts need to be pointed out and made aware of no matter who it is.

 

[James K]

There is a recent episode where Reed is chasing a cell, and there was a vehicle being way MORE wreckless while trying to intercept,

Yep! That guy was a danger to *everyone* not just Reed..
Farther along in the stream Reed ends up pulling up behind what I believe was that same car that blasted by him, stopped along with some others (there was debris or something in the road where traffic had to go around if I remember right) ...

I put on Reed's stream along with 2 others for the storms today (each on its own screen) .. a very typical setup - having anywhere from 1 to 4 streams going when I can on 'storm days' (with 1 of them always being Reed if he's on).

For today I must say good... I didn't see any unsafe acts by chasers(there coulda been speeding, but that you cant tell) ..
Now granted I didn't watch the full time on any of them, and there even was a period of a hour or so where I walked away from all (just left the audio on in the background) to go clean my fishtanks.

 

[J Holder]

I

From the beginning to around 4:09:10, I counted 6 events where he did not come to a full stop at stop signs. 3:48:24, 3:52:00, 3:57:03, 4:05:04, 4:08:45 and 4:09:00. Some were more egregious than others -- determine the risk factors for yourself. There may be more but I did not check after 4:09:00. Also, at around 4:08:00, one could argue that he is driving through a small town, littered with debris on the road, at an unsafe speed. I can understand missing a single stop sign (which is dangerous enough), or maybe slowing down to a crawl at a deserted intersection with 100 percent visibility, but this appears to be a driving style habit. Again, these are my opinions and I encourage the reader to determine the scope or legality of such acts on their own and not take my word alone.

What state was he in at the time?

 

[Jason N]

No one should be immune from being sensible in every situation no matter what your fame level is or isn't. If people think its ok to treat the road like its personal property or somehow everyone should just arbitrarily or instinctually know who's in cars, or who's not driving fast enough, or somehow, the road should bend to their will is silly. That applies to everyone no matter their status or experience. I'll call myself out here, I have gone through a stop sign or two, (California style) before, on back country farm roads, So I am not a perfect in every sense of the word, driver either. I just know to be hyper vigilant and remind myself, I'm not to only one out here.

 

[Jason Boggs]

What state was he in at the time?

I think he was in Illinois.

 

[Jamie H]

I'm not sure any individual's personal life or relationships are worthy of posting about for mirth, to be honest. Surely this forum is better than that?

 

[James Wilson]

Risk = I am not going to tell anyone how to chase or how much risk to take, that is their call. There is a comment about the drone guy --- he is aware of the risk is an adult and accepts it so it should not be an issue for anyone.

Bad Habits = We have all done stuff while chasing that we would not do if driving to the grocery store for example. Over the years I have seen so many chasers hit each other, go off the road/crash or get into the tornado, ghost train, etc. Almost everyone chases at speeds they probably should not be driving at.

Don’t = The issues of stop signs is 100% different though and we need to make sure we stop and make sure it is clear. This would be like running a red light and it ends badly as we know if we do not stop and someone is coming. Another thing that needs to be avoided is passing on double yellow lines. There is a reason they are double and I see passing way too many times in these instances. Turning out into traffic is another one I see too much or people running across the street to get to a better spot to see the storm. There seems to be a huge uptick of people parking on the side of the road but blocking traffic too. I will say I am not anywhere near innocent so I will not throw stones but this is only going to get worse.

Fix = There is no fix to this as people are going to do what they do. All we can do is our best to avoid other drivers and make sure we stop and look both ways before moving. Please park off the road and avoid crossing traffic as a person will get hit eventually.

That’s my two cents since we all have change to spare …

 

[J Holder]

I think he was in Illinois.

Send a copy of his video here.

[email protected]

 

[Drew Terril]

Guys, I think this thread has run its course at this point. I do appreciate everyone being civil with their comments, but at this point I don't believe there's much more to say.

 

[Jeff Duda]

When are we going to learn?

(emphasis mine)

It depends on what you mean by "we." Some chasers already know this and are not a problem. Others do not care, and nothing will teach them. Even if they were to die from doing this, they may not have that "oops, I shouldn't have done that" thought with their last mental breath.

I've seen more posts about chasers being hit and thrown by tornadoes this year than in any previous year. That tells me some people just don't care. The best thing I can say is don't give them any publicity. Don't legitimize it by explaining it away. Just ostracize them and move on.