Ocean City Maryland beach hummer accident

[KenP]

Originally posted by Buckeye Hummer:
I hate on-star.

Furthermore, they employ a bunch of numbnut idiots in Detroit to answer the calls, most likely with very little education, hardly the person I want answering the phone in an emergency.

It's worse than that. Those folks are in CANADA! Mostly Toronto. Hey, you know how those Northerners can be.

[MIZZOU H2]

Coulda just as easily been any one of us. Keep it safe folks and try not to wheel alone.

[h2co-pilot]

And for record, I am not worried about my upcoming trip ( pretty dern syked ) because I am going with super-cool and competent individuals. I was just giving others a "for instance situation" on why we are interested in this matter

[hummerNCO]

I have followed this thread since the first post by Paragon and until now I have stayed out of it too. But it has turned out to be such a huge, super long, on-going, thread that would not die, that I have to add my avatar/name for posterity.

So here is what I have to say about it.

" "

That is all. No value added.

[LasVegas]

.....i want to thank you for taking your time to talk about the possiblitys of what may have happened and who should be blamed.

The driver should be blamed.

[Hummoron]

First of all let me say that some of my earlier comments were inflammatory and that discussions about hummers off-topic. I allowed myself to get riled up by other people's comments who seemed to think that as a hummer driver, they should be going in more dangerous and otherwise off-limit areas. As a result, I took the extreme opposite position.

Having said that, I think that Shaggy as wonderfully expressed my more true (and level) sentiments on this topic. His firsthand knowledge of both the area and rangers is very insightful. Ruining one or more ranger's life (have some have expressed) over the action's of one person who was clearly breaking the rules and taking several unnecessary life risks on their own would be an injustice. More likely is that the rules will be changed for all ORVs and everyone will be punished.

The rangers searched the area as the past experience would have guided them to do. People are also assuming that the rangers had access to GPS, but that is also speculation (just as I speculated that the driver also had a GPS display).

In the transcripts that I've read, I have never seen where the 911 operator even suggested they had latitude longitude coordinates, just "coordinates". Maybe OnStar should have called the Park directly instead of going through an intermediary.

For those of you paying money for OnStar and perceive this to be an infallible safety net, well, I think this incident shows that it is not.

There are many gaps in the story. Initially I heard that the airbags were not deployed and then a month later, that they were. I don't understand how there could be any confusion over that given the OnStar commercials that I've seen.

After the hummer was recovered, the front windshield and driver's side door were both missing. The back of the hummer was bent in like a V. I am assuming that those damages were done during the roll. Given how many people drive on the beach (and some in 4x4 Vans), I just have a hard time imagining what natural conditions could have existed that would have caused a hummer of all vehicles to roll and suffer that much damage. Hence the speculation that the driver was acting in a way that was way beyond normal beach driving.

I understand that the inside cab of the hummer was also greatly water damaged, suggesting that it had been in deep water for a lengthy amount of time. If the vehicle ended in the ocean in or beyond the breakers as a result of the accident, I am also not surprised that the rangers would have missed it, even if they had driven right by it. In my naivety, I would be shining my spotlight (it was dark, after all) from the water's edge to the dunes. But, I am speculating.

If the rangers did a full out search and rescue for every call they get to the level that would have been necessary in this case, well, who is going to pay for it (I'm imagining at least one, if not several, helicopters and multiple trucks in the search)? As a taxpayer, I certainly don't. That may sound cold, but those searches cost lots of money quickly. The $70/year entrance fee certainly doesn't cover it either. The coast guard getting a call about a boat in distress is a much more obvious need of a full search than someone stuck in the sand (which is where the ORV should have been, in the sand). Given that others don't cancel a search after being "rescued" makes this even more problematic.

I've gone out on the beach in the winter and didn't have OnStar or a cellphone. I was fully aware that if I even got stuck, no one would be the wiser until the next day when I didn't return and I would be responsible for getting my own self out. As a result, I tended to drive more carefully (not that I still didn't do some stupid things). You take risks and accept the consequences. Adam might have been perfectly fine with that.

I also don't know the facts and could be completely off-base (about the accident itself).

And despite one person's claim, I am not against commercialism and people should be able to spend their money on better things. That doesn't mean we can do anythng we want. Just because I can afford a TeraWatt Bass Thumper for my car, doesn't mean I should be playing it all full blast while next to other people. With owning something also comes responsibility.

[crystalstarkey]

This is the cousin of adam and the step sister of jen. adam was like a big brother to me. me, jen and him were together every weekend. i know everything there is to know about both of them. Im glad that i wasnt with them, i was sopposed to hang out with them that weekend. but im sure if it was just me adam and jen would both be just as upset as me. i agree with everything that everyone has said. thank you. it means alot. i cant explain how mad and upset it makes me to hear what happend with everything. the coordinates, the rangers not searching long enough... i could go on and on. I just wanted to thank you all for everything.

[Hummoron]

Wow, H2 Rocks. Your attitude really typifies the egotistical hummer owner and why more of them need to flip upside down in the ocean.

This seagull food hummer (you just gotta know that those birds were picking at him overnight looking for a free meal) owner breaks the law, acts like an idiot and kills himself, but somehow it isn't his fault that he died. Let's blame someone else for his stupid actions. It certainly can't be his fault, he was invincible in his hummer. Let's blame everyone who didn't save him.

Funny, you call me selfish, but it was this prick that was abusing the beach for his own little pleasure and guzzling down gas causing prices to soar. But I guess he was special and deserved to be selfish...and dead.

And contrary to your last sentence, it is he who is out of the gene-pool, not me. Join your friend.

[Queen Sheba]

<span class="ev_code_BLUE">I am sorry, but why would they look in a place where they were permitted? Come ON! Human nature says that when we have a vehicle that makes us feel safe, we are going to test the limits anyway? They should have been looking in the place where they shouldn't have been. Maybe they would have found them sooner. That must have been a horrible way to die</span>

[Klaus]

I'd say if the Hummer was upside down the OnStar GPS unit wouldn't be getting a very good satellite lock, which would make the location less accurate.

[DRTYFN]

Originally posted by Hummoron:
Tower,

My problem with... <span class="ev_code_RED">BLAH-****ING-BLAH</span>
...get in trouble. Cheers.

You whining bitch. Do you ever shut your mouth(when you're not at "work")?

Jesus christo!!! The poor nitwit pulled a Darwinistic move and paid the price. Let it rest.

You don't like the Hummer why? Because some one else has given you an easily recognizable target to focus your limited brain power on and now your concentrating for all your worth on that one thought.

I ran into two of your dip**** brethren today(2 in 1 day is a real bonus). One malcontent little bitch pull her bandana over her face so she could hide her nasty grill before flipping me off. When I circled back around to ask her why, her answer was "I don't like what you drive". I calmly asked her why(while imagining pushing her into traffic) she didn't like what I was driving. The glazed over look I got back confirmed my suspicions- She hadn't been programmed with any further thoughts on the issue. I offered to walk her through the parking lot next to us and help educate her on all of the other vehicles she was missing out on hating, but she pushed her ****ty little bike away while glaring straight ahead, pissed off that she ran into someone that wasn't just going to take her gesture and drive off.
The next brain dead, mid 20's, hippie puke was in a rust bucket, early '70s light blue Volvo wagon that was sitting idling at a red light and spewing smoke several shades darker than its 30 year old paint. I was making a right turn onto the street he had just driven down and he decided he was going to make his statement by clearly & angrily mouthing "**** you" directly at me. Since I knew no one was directly behind me I slammed on the brakes. He suddenly looked like a scared little kid that didn't want to look sideways for fear that the Boogey Man was coming to get him. My window was down and so was his, so I yelled to him(and I know he heard me because he started to shake like a little bitch) to ask why he thought that was something he could mouth to me. Did he give any answer? Noooo. I then tore him a new portal for his ****ting pleasure for being a coward(ok, I think I called him a "little hippie bitch pussy".I'm not exactly sure what I called him because I went into a name calling trance.) He just sat there and stared straight ahead like Death was coming to get him and if he didn't look it might pass him by. The bus driver directly behind him had his window open and he started to laugh at him for getting caught and receiving an ass-chewing for it.

The point of my little stories is that I'd put money on you being the same kind of no-load carrying malcontent, have-not, POS as those two were today. Mouth off all you can on the Internet or someplace where you think someone won't confront you for your cowardly actions or words, but in person you'd dribble piss down your leg like a scared little girl.

You made your opinion clear on the accident, but don't bring your weak ass "I'm going to teach you all the error of your ways" garbage in here. After reading a few of your posts it's very clear that the only thoughts you can regurgitate are the ones fed to you.

[Hummoron]

they cancelled the search with out finding anyone

According to Shaggy, people frequently get "rescued" (ie: unstuck) and don't call off the search.

Onstar is still new. Maybe if it was their policy to follow-up, everyone would be better served. Getting a call from Onstar saying "We're tracking the vehicle and see that they're moving again. Did everything go ok?" would certainly avoid wasting a ranger's time looking for someone who was no longer there.

[Robert Larick]

This will be my first and last reply.

I feel compelled to post because I am the probably the most experienced of anyone with Assateague Island and Hummers. I own both an '99 H1 & '03 H2, I have actively, frequently fish AI (Assateague Island) for the last 6 years using the H1 as my "beach buggy". I use the H2 when I have an overflow of guests. Both Hummers are AI Park permitted.

I have traveled the entire island in all types of weather conditions including snow. I have been trapped by high tides from the Nor'easters that blow here. I have swerved around the items that wash up including a whale! I have carefully found my way over the sand cliffs and high tide washes that frequently form. I have driven into holes left unfilled from kids trying to dig to China. I have traveled that desolate dark island in sleepless stupors and in influenced states.

I have stood the H1 on its nose, jammed feet of wet sand in through the windows, buried it to its running boards. I have also put the h2 on very similar precarious angles both intentionally and accidently. Want to see the repair bills?

The death of 2 young people on that Island is a sobering event and very unfortunate for the families and emergency services related to the incident. I have learned something.

After reading 8 pages of posts, my thoughts are to those who 4-wheel and to those who rescue. I can assure everyone that the accident was due to carelessness and recklessness, plain and simple. No different than a drunk driver who runs off the road. As heartless as it sounds, I believe that if you are going to attempt extreme adventures, then there are rules to follow... If you don't. You play, you pay.

I hope that everyone here on this board learns, thinks and is reinforced about the obvious, that 4-wheeling is inherently dangerous. Don't ever rely on rescue services to save you! Only rely on your common sense, please! There are too many reasons, for me to list here of what I speculate to have happened. As an Hummer and AI expert, I can plainly see the sequence of events that occured and why. However, whatever specifically happened, my sympathy stops short with my condolences.

I come away with this story (and I hope that others do too) that we should never hold the park service people to be held responsible, never hold them into some type of culpability or liability for the lose of those lives in that situation. I am very said for the loss of 2 young people just having "fun", however I am encouraged to use this as an example and lesson to my 10 & 11 yr. old boys, in hopes that they maintain common sense at all times.

Never ever drive or ride unprepared for the worse, in dark or desolate or unfamiliar or illegal areas with out the buddy system, unless you have a death wish.

[KenP]

Ditto H2F.

[PARAGON]

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Monday, February 14, 2005



INCIDENTS

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Assateague Island National Seashore (VA)
Follow-up on Fatal Humvee Accident


On the night of Saturday, February 5th, a Humvee accident on the park’s beach led to the deaths of two park visitors, subsequently identified as Adam Starkey, 25, of Cockeysville, Maryland, and Jennifer Ashe, 24, of Baltimore City, Maryland. Witnesses on the beach said that they saw a Hummer traveling at a high rate of speed down the beach earlier that evening. Surfers found the 2004 H2 Hummer in the surf more than a mile-and-a-half within the posted closed area the following morning. The man’s body was found not far from the vehicle; the woman’s body was found on Monday morning by a Maryland state park ranger about five-and-a-half miles north of the wreck site. A critical incident stress management team arrived in the park on Tuesday to meet with park staff. NPS special agent Tim Alley has been assigned to the investigation.
[Submitted by Mike Anderson, Chief Ranger]

[PARAGON]

New Details Emerge In Fatal Assateague Crash



Shawn J. Soper, Staff Writer

OCEAN CITY (02/18/2005) - While investigators may never know exactly what happened on the beach at Assateague Island, nearly two weeks when an off-road vehicle overturned and ultimately claimed the lives of its two occupants, new details emerged this week providing a little more insight into the moments after the crash.

On Saturday, Feb. 5, around 9:30 p.m., the OnStar vehicle-equipped emergency services system received a call from a vehicle in distress on Assateague Island. Using the provided latitude and longitude coordinates provided by OnStar, National Parks Service rangers initiated a search of the island, particularly focusing on the area designated for off-road vehicle traffic, but the search proved fruitless.

Early the next day, surfers discovered an overturned Hummer and the body of its driver, Adam Starky, 25, of Cockeysville, near it on the beach in the surf in an area where off-road vehicles are not allowed. A little more than 24 hours later, a state park ranger found the body of Starky’s passenger, Jennifer Holly Ashe, 24, also of Cockeysville, about a half-mile south of the Ocean City Inlet and roughly five miles north of the Hummer accident scene.

The State Medical Examiners Office this week officially determined the cause of Starky’s death to be leg injuries complicated by hypothermia. The official autopsy results for Ashe are still pending as of yesterday.

Because of the terrain and the lack of roads on the island, OnStar used its high tech global positioning system (GPS) to approximate the location of the distressed vehicle and relayed the information to the appropriate emergency response agencies.

“Our folks took the call and because there are no roads there, we provided longitude and latitude coordinates to emergency responders,” said OnStar Vice President of Communications Terry Sullivan.

While the series of events leading up to the accident may never be known, new details emerged this week about the initial call to OnStar.

The OnStar call center, which provides personalized emergency roadside assistance to equipped vehicles 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, receives calls from vehicles in distress in several different ways. For example, a deployed airbag or sensors on the vehicle detecting a moderate or severe collision can automatically transmit an emergency service call to OnStar.

However, in the case of the Hummer accident on Assateague, the call came from a distressed individual and not from a deployed airbag or other source, according to Sullivan.

“We received an emergency button press from an individual in or near the vehicle,” he said. “An air bag deployment did not trigger this one. The call was clearly made from a woman in distress.”

It now appears Ashe had the wherewithal to push the button to initiate the call to OnStar, but the emergency services facilitator was not able to make a verbal connection with the victim.

“We did receive the emergency key press but were never able to make verbal contact with the caller,” he said. “We could hear a woman in distress on the tape but it was unintelligible. We could hear screams but it was garbled.”

Sullivan said it was possible the caller was no longer in the vehicle when OnStar attempted to respond to her call for help.

“It almost sounded like the caller was outside the vehicle,” he said. “If that was the case, we would have been able to hear her, but she wouldn’t have necessarily been able to hear us.”

[ali648]

las vegas,
i think you are basically reiterating exactly what i just wrote. hummoron is an ass...he's the one that i personally don't like (and i said exactly that), i had said that no one knows what happened, and i had also said i didn't put the blame on anyone but adam. so what is so wrong with that? why did you tell me to "come on?" just a little confused about that one.

[ali648]

Andy C,
I am Adam's ex girlfriend. I spent my whole life with that guy. You have no idea how refreshing it is to see another point of view on this thread. I appreciate your contribution to this discussion. You have a good point. No one was there. No one knows exactly what happened. After reading horrible comments, (especially that hummoron made), about my ex boyfriend, I couldn't help but get frustrated, angry, upset, etc. I don't necessarily put the blame on anyone other than Adam, the driver, but I too don't know what happened that night. As a normal human being, I'm angered that ppl can just talk about someone I loved so carelessly (for a lack of better words). People here are entitled to their own opinion, but I know I've been emotionally drained reading this thread. I don't even know why I am putting myself through it. So, thank you for putting a different view on the table for everyone to see. You now know at least one person agrees with you here.

[tower]

And we all want to express how sorry we are for your loss.

[Exploding People]

so
people drove their hummer into the ocean
they got stuck
then they died

am i missing something? besides blatant stupidity?