Section outline

  • What you are not authorized to do, what the law does and does not protect you from, and the character of somebody whose reports can be trusted. Seven lessons on federal law that applies everywhere, the principles behind state law that does not, and the ethics that outlive both.

    • What you are, and what you are not Page
      Students must
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      A trained volunteer with no authority, and a federal immunity that excludes the single most dangerous thing you will do all season. (25 min)

    • When the forecast is wrong Page
      Students must
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      Government immunity, a forty-year-old case about lobstermen, and the reason a report on this platform will never be labeled a warning. (25 min)

    • The law on the road Page
      Students must
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      Five areas of traffic law that catch spotters, taught as principles because the details are different in every state and change most years. (30 min)

    • Where you may stand Page
      Students must
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      Private land, damage zones, police lines and curfews, and why the most useful thing you can do at a disaster scene is usually to not be in it. (22 min)

    • The rules on the air Page
      Students must
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      What may not be transmitted, why you identify every ten minutes, and the alert tone you must never put in a video. (28 min)

    • Drones, cameras and who you say you are Page
      Students must
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      Two regulatory lanes for drones, a right to record with real limits, who owns your footage, and the name you may never use. (30 min)

    • Honesty, aid, and the rest of it Page
      Students must
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      False reports, fabricated images, when you must help and when you merely may, and the standards nobody enforces. (30 min)