Serious Problems With Drivers During Wray Tornado

Warren Faidley

Warren Faidley

Supporter
Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
2,421
Location
Mos Isley Space Port
I'm hearing from some of my EMS friends that several law enforcement discussion groups and sites are overflowing with strong comments regarding chaser behavior during the May 7, tornado event near Wray, CO.

Apparently, cars were driving down the wrong side of the highway, speeding, failing to yield to emergency vehicles and passing in no passing lanes.

Law enforcement is focusing on one chaser, but I won't repeat the name here since I've had issues with this individual before and in fairness, I was not there to witness the events.

This rapidly increasing hatred for chasers is not heading in a good direction. I don't care if you think it's right or wrong, but the fallout is coming.
 
The link is here. The comments by the officer and the responses to his comments are below the clip or they can be found on Facebook.

I find it disturbing that people go as far as calling the officer a "pig" and other names just for calling someone out. But it does not surprise me given past events related to this very subject -- and the overall fear people have towards calling this individual out. The matter of growing "hatred" towards chasers has been discussed in detail before. I've made comments before regarding the main source and reasoning of such discontent -- and I've been hammered. Everyone can judge for themselves what is right or wrong. I don't think this is a matter of getting too close, as that is an individual choice.

This has all been archived so if it's removed, I have copies.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154191455729169
 
Last edited:
The comments to that post are rather disturbing. People really buy into that whole saving lives bs. The utter ignorance of people and how easily they buy into total garbage disturbs me more than any driving I saw in that video.
 
Regarding the video above:

The first "issue" could come in at 34 seconds. He passes a parked vehicle half way on the shoulder. Not sure what kind of vehicle this is. He does this at a reasonable speed, and in the far left part of his lane. There is NOTHING wrong with what happened here.

Next, around 37 seconds, he again passes two vehicles. These appear to be pedestrian/chaser vehicles parked ON the road... he again does this at a reasonably slow speed and moves even farther left, giving them plenty of room. Whoever was in those vehicles parked in in the middle of the road was doing something wrong.

Next, he drives by an ambulance that is on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD and backed into a pull off, parked. He has NO REASON to yield to this... Why would anyone yield for this? I thought stopping near ambulances and gawking was a part of the problem... He continued on this road, in his lane, passing a sign that says speed limit of 65 MPH... At no point in this video would I estimate that he is ever speeding.

Next, at 1 minute and 17 seconds he encounters a vehicle traveling well under the posted speed limit (understandably... there is a tornado directly ahead). Passing this vehicle over the double yellow lines, I guess could be considered illegal.... although I would rather see him slowly move over and make a quick pass rather than slamming on the breaks and stay driving behind a vehicle going well under the posted speed limit...as that is a serious threat to be rear ended. I guess in order to get haters off his back, he should have stayed behind this vehicle and passed a few hundred yards down the road where it appears it would have been legal.

Overall, I don't know what happened out there with the hundreds of other chasers, but this video doesn't show much, if anything, to justify the hate, in my opinion.
 
Not sure about the rest of the chase day, or the driving behavior of others, but I see nothing wrong in the video above save him passing in a double yellow..no big deal. We have all done that before, chasing or not chasing.
 
I don't see the officer's comments justify him being called a "hater." That's an overused "code" word people use to brand people they don't agree with. Just because we don't agree with a person's opinion does not mean we have to attack or label them. I believe the officer was most concerned about the vehicle crossing the double yellow lines two times while passing vehicles to the left. The ambulance issue was not a problem to me -- although I would have slowed down before approaching. I think in most states, those multiple infringements would support reckless driving. What should concern everyone are the officer's comments: "Here in Kansas we are fed up with the storm chasing idiots." Great, so the next time a chaser or spotter who is trying to be safe commits a tiny infraction they will bear the weight of this officer's (and others) frustration with the idiots.
 
Last edited:
Fortunately technology is making it to where chase vehicles no longer need to be dressed out with antennas and other "look at me I'm a storm chaser" garb. Stealth mode will be the only mode in due time given an exponential increase in chatter over the past few years from LEO's. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a free country and we have every right to be out there, blah blah. But, fact of the matter is, we as chasers are shooting ourselves in the foot by simply acting like we're more important than others on the road. We're not.
 
Here's the rest of the video, which is completely insane...jaw-dropping.
I'm not concerned with the driving in the video--looks pretty straightforward given the circumstances. What concerns me is that eventually someone is going to die emulating this sort of behavior. They really need to be more careful in making it very clear that this is not something you just jump in your car and do. There were a couple other regular passenger vehicles at the end of the video that were suicidal, there's no way else to put it. That in turn puts other people in danger.
 
Glad to see there's a discussion about this. I've witnessed reckless driving behavior from storm chasers and non-storm chasers alike but unfortunately anytime a small group has some bad apples that group can get singled out.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about getting injured by another chaser than by any storm... The reason why I wear a high visibility vest. Perhaps something others could consider doing to show we care about safety?

One final comment, I do my best to drive extra cautiously especially given the adrenaline rush we all likely get during the excitement of the chase.

Safe chasing, everyone!

-Greg


Sent from my iPhone using Stormtrack mobile app
 
Crossing a yellow line when the on-coming lane is occupied by a tornado assuring no traffic seems tame considering the situation. I would bet money that any experienced, level headed chaser has passed a slow moving car in a no passing zone if visibility is good and tornado of a life-time is slipping away. So much time, money and emotions have been spent to get in that spot, then to let an old couple coming home from church steal it away would be a tough call. But RT video when seen in entirety shows other chasers driving around him through a ditch on his right and over downed power lines. But they were never on a TV show, so we turn a blind eye to them. To stop this person from chasing would rob the WORLD of some of the most amazing tornado footage out there.
 
Fantastic points Kem. This is actually some of the more laid back driving I've seen from Reed during an intense tornado. Not sure why it was posted as an example.

Same ole same ole chaser and law enforcement complaints that always go the wayside after the chase season. At least its been that way for the last 13 years. I've got way more issue with the derogatory comments that are floating around regarding law enforcement.
 
Colorado is one of several states that has a no passing zone exception so I see nothing wrong with what was done in this particular example.
 
I can see a problem with how he passed at 1m17 since visibility was bad due to RFD dust and the tornado was just beginning there could've been someone trying to flee in the incoming lane. It wasn't "that" bad but certainly wasn't a safe driving example either.

I've seen way worse in the field but the fact that we are now seeing law enforcement taking every little example to discuss about it tells me that chasing has reached a new level where problematic behaviour is now considered endemic within the chasing community. "Extreme" chasing has been marketed as cool and enough noobs have followed that trend so now we are getting hit by judgemental stereotypes.

I've always been low profile and I think more and more chasers will join this trend of not being too easy to spot.
 
I have to agree that the traffic offenses were not over the top (at least not to those of us who have done the same things), but the theme of this post was to confirm the mounting tensions between chasers and mostly state law enforcement. There seems to be a hair trigger right now and zero tolerance for any offense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top