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Tornado Flips Truck and Driver Drives Away

I have no doubt this will lead to people doing stupid things to try and get a new vehicle, driving into a tornado or otherwise. I have to disagree with giving him a new vehicle, which is only a publicity stunt for Chevy since it was captured on video. He should have never been out driving in an active severe weather situation, including watches and warnings. Many people have died from ignoring severe weather warnings and I think this sends the wrong message. Regardless, I'm glad he was not hurt.
 
While Warren makes some good points, obviously suggesting that people who should drive in a watch is over the line just a tad bit.

Or a lot :)

99.99999% of people in a watch survive, and 99.999998% of people in a warning survive.

The point is that Chevy did a great deed by helping the kid out. And no, this won't turn into a TikTok craze.
 
Warren Faidley said:
I have no doubt this will lead to people doing stupid things to try and get a new vehicle, driving into a tornado or otherwise. I have to disagree with giving him a new vehicle, which is only a publicity stunt for Chevy since it was captured on video. He should have never been out driving in an active severe weather situation, including watches and warnings. Many people have died from ignoring severe weather warnings and I think this sends the wrong message. Regardless, I'm glad he was not hurt.
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Nothing would ever get done in the plains states late spring/early summer. I was 1.5 miles into my bike ride when the watch was issued yesterday. Id been home from 3 hours before rain even got close. We had zero severe weather. I cant stop life for a watch. I cant say I agree with you.
 
He basically ignored multiple warning systems designed to protect people. Days of advanced notice regarding a potentially dangerous event. The watch, the warning, reports of tornadic storms in the area and the big, black ugly clouds approaching his area. Just like in law, ignorance of the "danger" is not an excuse in a modern world of social media, sirens, etc. This is not about casually driving on a "watch" day under clear skies that never produce a threat.

I've covered similar tornadic events where people did the exact same thing he did (in a house or in a car) and were seriously injured or killed. They received noting, because no company could use the social-media publicity of the event to promote a product. What if there had been a child in the truck that was killed? Would Chevy promote the event? No. We would all be saying he was irresponsible. What about people getting the impression they can now survive a tornado in a vehicle -- a false perception safety experts have been trying to dismiss for years.

If Chevy wanted to promote safety and common sense, they should have given him and everyone in the town a weather radio or additional tornado sirens.
 
Actually you are safer in a vehicle than in a ditch, so if the video saves lives - it's a good thing. We've been trying to get away from the "ditch" messaging for years as it never was a good idea in the first place - just a response to a tornado event in the 1970s that never went through actual scientific analysis.
 
Schmidlin's paper suggested that. A car wedged in a ditch slowly may not get airborn-water filled maybe. The kid might wind up in a commercial like Gene R. did right after Twister. Is anyone doing photogrammetry on the images? That could be of merit.
 
Not posting here for an argument, but I'm amazed the NWS and the CDC still says it's OK to abandon the vehicle.

NWS National Homepage: In a vehicle: "Being in a vehicle during a tornado is not safe. The best course of action is to drive to the closest shelter. If you are unable to make it to a safe shelter, either get down in your car and cover your head, or abandon your car and seek shelter in a low lying area such as a ditch or ravine.

CDC National Homepage: "If you’re unable to make it to a safe shelter, either get down in your vehicle and cover your head and neck or leave your vehicle and seek shelter in a low-lying area such as a ditch or ravine."
 
Mark Egan said:
Story with driver, all is ok: 16-year-old driver tossed in Elgin tornado lucky to be alive - a Chevy dealership in Ft. Worth is giving him a new truck

I’m using this story as an opportunity for a learning experience: I’ve been telling friends and family (who share the story with me) that it’s important to have a higher level of situational awareness when driving on a severe weather day, especially one with a high threat for tornadoes. Much like driving through a neighborhood with children playing in the front yards, it’s best to have one’s head on a swivel on a day with a tornado threat.

This is certainly not a criticism of the kid’s driving: but, being 16, I’ll have to think that he may have just been looking at the road ahead (which may have been fine in better weather)

There may have been a chance for the driver to notice the tornado a few seconds early and slow down to let it pass in front of his truck. Most importantly, I’m glad he’s fine.

I work for a company that is starting a driving school here in Texas (we do other things as well) and I’ve asked the managers if we would consider offering a lesson- or at least creating a brochure and/or website link- about driving in severe weather.
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As shocked as I was to see this, I am also using this story as a learning opportunity. While I'm not a chaser, I have been a SkyWarn Spotter for 12 years, and even without being in 'spotter mode' as I call it, I have seen the effects of not having that higher level of situational awareness when driving during severe weather, especially with high winds and, at least in news stories like this, tornadoes.

My drive-home point when I tell my friends and co-workers about being a spotter is that safety is the most important factor. With spotters you put your personal safety before sending in the report to NWS. Spotters and chasers have both been killed as a result of not having that 'head on a swivel' and being in the wrong place at the wrong time as a result.

I work for an environmental consulting company, and safety is the most important part of the company culture, especially with driving. I've driven in severe weather when on assignments in the field and have had to 'keep my head on a swivel' while at the job site and on the road. I can't tell you how many close calls I've had in the field and on the road when I let my guard down even for just a few minutes. I'm not criticizing the driver here - I'm glad he's alright. But it definitely serves as a reminder to keep your wits about you, and don't let yourself get distracted or develop 'tunnel vision' by just looking ahead.
 
Glad the kid’s okay, if all he ultimately suffers is a little PTSD then he should consider himself lucky.

Warren Faidley said:
Not posting here for an argument, but I'm amazed the NWS and the CDC still says it's OK to abandon the vehicle.
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My only problem with the ditch is if you have time to get out of the car and run to a ditch you might have time to drive out of the path and avoid getting hit altogether. If not then for me it would depend on the car, the ditch and the tornado. If I felt that staying in the car increased my chances of getting pelted by debris, lofted into the air and mangled to death then I’d opt for the ditch, otherwise pick your poison.
 
As chasers we can generally make emergency decisions as to escape or bail. Old safety information is hard to correct even in today's vast media outlets. Some people still think you should tape up windows in advance of a hurricane or to open windows during a tornado to reduce "pressure" in the house.
 
Warren Faidley said:
seek shelter in a low-lying area such as a ditch or ravine.
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I've always seen stuff like that...
But my thoughts have always been different (and maybe this is a thing due to living in CO with the mountains)...to me pretty much the last place you'd want to be in a thunderstorm is a creek/ditch/ravine - because thunderstorms have rain (and often heavy rain at that), which means the creek/ditch/ravine could flood & flash-flood at that.
I don't know? Is that not so much an issue out on the plains?
 
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