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Storm Chasers Killed in Texas


MattPetrulli

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And the also the amount of chasers and people affiliated with chasing, groupies, whatever, who are attacking anyone stating anything saying this was reckless and negligent, etc, is ridiculous. And it's mostly all from people who didn't know any of these 3 from a hole in the ground. All I keep seeing people say is this was a tragic accident, etc. Hell no, this wasn't just a tragic accident. This was complete negligence. Sorry if I'm ranting, but it just erks the living **** out of me, because I see these type of accidents a lot. Corbin wasn't doing a damn thing wrong, yet died because of complete negligence, end of story. I could give Kelley a pass if they didn't have a history of breaking traffic laws, but they do. And the sooner the chasing community, or whatever the hell you wanna call it, sees that and wakes up, maybe there will be change. I know it's very early since it happened, just beyond pisses me off what I'm seeing.

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And the also the amount of chasers and people affiliated with chasing, groupies, whatever, who are attacking anyone stating anything saying this was reckless and negligent, etc, is ridiculous. And it's mostly all from people who didn't know any of these 3 from a hole in the ground. All I keep seeing people say is this was a tragic accident, etc. Hell no, this wasn't just a tragic accident. This was complete negligence. Sorry if I'm ranting, but it just erks the living **** out of me, because I see these type of accidents a lot. Corbin wasn't doing a damn thing wrong, yet died because of complete negligence, end of story. I could give Kelley a pass if they didn't have a history of breaking traffic laws, but they do. And the sooner the chasing community, or whatever the hell you wanna call it, sees that and wakes up, maybe there will be change. I know it's very early since it happened, just beyond pisses me off what I'm seeing.

 

A little edit from what I'm saying, some other well known chasers are saying on social media that they're going to say things within time that's going to make them unpopular with a lot of people, so not everyone is just sticking their heads in the sand. Sorry guys, I'll stop now, lol.

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I wholeheartedly agree that this was plain negligence and those defending this with quotes such as "we have all done this" makes me feel ill.  I have driven thousands of miles across the United States and Canada and have NEVER blown a stop sign, let alone multiple stop signs at 70 plus mph!!!  My feeling is that there is no defense for this type of action when driving.  There ARE laws against distracted driving and this is a clear violation.    

I was T-boned once by a woman who was distracted by her kid in the back seat.  By the grace of god, nobody was injured but the sound of her car hitting mine at 50 mph is something that just doesn't leave you (its been 10 years since that accident).

My question is what sort of legal protection do these streaming services have against being sued into homelessness by a family who lost someone by a chaser who was streaming their chase.  I just wonder if we should back away from storm chasers streaming their chases, which likely does add "stress and distraction" because you want to give your viewers the best shot.  In my eyes, there's nothing wrong with going back to the "olden days" of the 80s and 90s when you watched storm footage well after it happened.  I fear, though, that the genie has been let out of the bottle and we're going to see more of this with likely more loss of life from negligence.          

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I think people have reservations on going after a recently deceased, generally good person. Right or wrong, it's why people are being vague.


Oh I understand that man, I have no issue with that whatsoever. It's the multitude of people I've seen straight up going on the attack like they died a hero's death
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59 minutes ago, SmokeEater said:

And the also the amount of chasers and people affiliated with chasing, groupies, whatever, who are attacking anyone stating anything saying this was reckless and negligent, etc, is ridiculous. And it's mostly all from people who didn't know any of these 3 from a hole in the ground. All I keep seeing people say is this was a tragic accident, etc. Hell no, this wasn't just a tragic accident. This was complete negligence. Sorry if I'm ranting, but it just erks the living **** out of me, because I see these type of accidents a lot. Corbin wasn't doing a damn thing wrong, yet died because of complete negligence, end of story. I could give Kelley a pass if they didn't have a history of breaking traffic laws, but they do. And the sooner the chasing community, or whatever the hell you wanna call it, sees that and wakes up, maybe there will be change. I know it's very early since it happened, just beyond pisses me off what I'm seeing.

Part of me wants to wait for all the facts before casting any judgment. But thanks to the live stream that Williamson willingly made available, the evidence is already strong enough to justify most of what you say here. Furthermore, earlier streams make it clear that Williamson and Yarnall had a habit of at least brazenly rolling stop signs, if not blowing them. I skimmed yesterday's stream at greatly increased speed and was able to identify at least four other cases (this is over about a one-hour period before the wreck), including a couple that made me cringe. We're not talking about technicalities, rolling through at 3 mph where an officer could ticket you if he's having a bad day -- we're talking making right turns at practically the same speed you would if you had the right of way, even onto busy highways. I'm not even convinced this was purely a case of distracted driving, although that's probably something that will have to be determined later on (if it ever can be).

I hate to harp on media chasers, but this phenomenon of regularly blowing stop signs in rural areas is something I've long associated with them. Part of that is self selecting, just because their footage is the most likely to be seen widely -- and I've seen it happen on several other media types' footage. I mean, I understand the temptation to push the rules of the road a bit during exceptional storm opportunities, but stop signs aren't something to mess around with -- let alone making a habit of it.

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Hi everyone!  As someone that has been chasing hurricanes since as early as 1996 (much more regularly from 2004 onward) and blizzards since 2014, I'm somewhat reluctant to offer my opinion on this tragic incident...as some will no doubt misconstrue my motives.  

That said, so much has changed since the mid-90's for better and worse.  The expanse of the internet, along with the inception of social media, has opened the door to many looking for a relative amount of fame and profit, as much as simply for the joy and exhilaration derived from capturing/witnessing Earth's most spectacular atmospheric phenomena.   As a result, the competition involved in getting the best footage available, and out to the networks as quickly as possible, is only increasing the other inherent dangers/risks associated with this profession/hobby!

Like many others chasers, I too have been  guilty of making some very poor choices in the heat of the chase, but only by endangering myself, in the process; although, even those actions potentially put the lives of first responders in jeopardy.  It's so terribly sad three lives were taken so needlessly, and nothing is worth such a heavy price to pay (especially the innocent one/ones involved).  One can only hope all of us chasers can learn to be more responsible and thoughtful of how our respective actions affect others.  

More importantly, my thoughts and most heartfelt prayers go out to all the friends and family of these three souls!        

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Sadly this will probably not be the last accident or death from reckless and distracted storm chasing. Storm chasers are like rabbits. They keep multiplying and the more that are out there, the more chances that something like this will happen again. There are other vids of chasers breaking traffic laws...blatantly I might add. Blowing lights and stop signs. Even driving on the wrong side of the road to pass stopped vehicles. I'm shocked it took this long for this to happen. Years ago it was for the science. Now it's for the glory and the money shot and getting that first is big business.

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I think law enforcement should have the right to prosecute anyone who breaks a traffic law after the fact when they post that video to the internet. Maybe more focus should be put on that. 

Another issue with distracted driving and technology, many chasers have 5-10+ gadgets/cameras mounted in the front of the vehicle and on the windshield. Those should be the passengers responsibility to operate but they are still a hazard to the driver. Just the other day, I saw some chasers post a picture of the inside of their chase vehicle from the passenger side, with stuff mounted everywhere, and in the front windshield. Someone commented, "How can you even see out of the windshield?" to which they replied "This is only what it looks like on the passenger side," but the idea here is that anything mounted in the windshield blocks a portion of your view as a driver. When you start mounting multiple cameras (and a lot of times they are not just tiny GoPro's) in the front of the vehicle, it is making it more dangerous for the driver because you are definitely blocking their view. 

Law enforcement should look into ticketing these types of offenses, too.

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22 hours ago, bjc0303 said:

let's not forget the local chaser killed by El reno tornado

I don't mean to forget the others but certain names stand out more to me. Chasers needs to be more aware of their surroundings in general (El Reno kind of an exception but still a lot of risk getting close to a tornado). Tragic and avoidable situation this time that I hope gets more awareness overall to pay attention to the road or get someone else to drive if you can't. Seen way too many close calls on streams before or people stopping on or halfway off the road. Adrenaline messes with logic sometimes but situational awareness needs to be remembered also.

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