Channel sued for $125 mn over storm chase death

A mother has filed a $125 million lawsuit against the Weather Channel over her son's death in a car collision in Texas on March 28, 2017.

Two of the channels' storm chasers, Kelley Williamson and Randall Yarnall, also died in the crash with 25-year-old Corbin Lee Jaeger, BBC reported.

But the lawsuit blames the chasers, who allegedly broke traffic laws while live-streaming their pursuit.

The suit alleges that Williamson and Yarnall, while streaming the chase online, drove through a stop sign at about 70 mph (113 kmph) and crashed into Jaeger's vehicle.

The 25-year-old was working as a storm spotter for the National Weather Service. The suit says he was driving away from the storm and had right of way.

Jaeger's mother, Karen Di Piazza, has now filed a suit in district court, BBC reported.

According to the lawsuit, Williamson and Yarnall "had a history of reckless driving when storm chasing" - running stop signs and traffic lights, driving on the wrong side of the road and making "dangerous, illegal passes of other cars".

Their failure to stop at the sign was their "fourth such traffic violation that day".

Nevertheless, the lawsuit says, the Weather Channel allowed them to keep working despite warnings about their driving and watching the driving "during live video feeds of their storm chasing".

--IANS

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