Ocean City Maryland beach hummer accident

[PARAGON]

Originally posted by Linda:
ok..... Im like really getting upset about this whole thing, and the way it was handled after reading these posts!

I was a dear freind of Adam (the driver of the hummer) and I have been doing so much research on the internet about the whole happenings of that night, when I stumbled upon this site. Very interesting, yet very very disturbing. Without a doubt they BOTH should be alive today if it werent for poor communication along with what appears to be a lot of poor dessions that night. Such as calling of the search the night that they could have been saved.

This is the first I have heard about a second 911 call, does anyone have any further info on that? Last I heard the 911 clearly could heard from the Onstar people that there was a girl in great distress.... to me that would be enough to have a bit more extensive search. Then another site I was on said that bassed on the cords that they gave, they certainly could have at least been in the general vasinity IF they had read them right!!

Sorry, dont mean to rant, but this was my freind!! And it makes me sick to think of him freezing to death out there while Jen went walking to get help and this whole thing could have very possibly ended on a much better note.

I know that Adam did feel fearless in his hummer, and apparently he was doing some pretty wild driving.

Soooo, so sad

-Linda

Linda, maybe you misunderstood or I have misunderstood. I don't think there was ever any mention of a second 911 call. I made the point that after the initial search turned up nothing, a simple call to Onstar to verify the location and/or signal from the truck should have taken place. But since the coordinates were never passed on to the Rangers from the 911 operator, even though Onstar gave the 911 operator the coordinates, I am sure this never crossed anyone's mind.

Also, I haven't read an article stating that the female passenger actually talked to the Onstar people. Here is a quote from OnStar Vice President of Communications Terry Sullivan taken from one of the newspaper articles on it:

“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.”

To be frank, without any knowledge except for what's been in print, it appears that, from the initial button call to Onstar to calling off the search, this was not given much priority and was an emergency systems failure from beginning to end. There was no sense of emergency from the 911 operators because they called off the sheriff's office and did not pass the coordinates along, there was obviously no sense of emergency to the rangers since they stopped to help get someone unstuck, Onstar keeps pointing to the fact that there was no airbag notification (sounding more like an excuse), and the Rangers' representative said they "looked" in all the places permitted for vehicles (sounds like another excuse).

All of this is just reading between the lines of what happened per the news reports. The fact that the coordinates were not used to begin with and then no one every followed up with Onstar to try to verify the vehicle's location is just lost on me.

[tower]

Dear Linda,

I have no information on this incident other than what I have read on this site. I wish I could be of more help. As things unfold, please know that you have a supportive group of readers on this website and that we would be interested in any enlightenment you might, ultimately, be able to provide. You have my deepest sympathy on the loss of your friend(s).

Be well,

Ron Migdal
Southern California Region Secretary
National Ski Patrol
theTower@SoCalNSP.org

[Linda]

Thank you for your sympathy. Its been really hard, not only to loss someone so young & wonderful, but to know that it may have (should have) been prevented.

In response to Paragon's post: I was referring to second 911, pertaining to your post on 3/17 where u said in the beginning "911 releases second tape".... just wasnt sure what you meant by that.

As for Jenn actually talking to the Onstar people, what I was refering to was the following:
[ Home ] [ Insider ] [ Letters ] [ About Us ] [ Cops & Courts ]




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.”
----------------------------------

I did not copy the whole article, but just some so you could see what I was refering to. I dont remember where I read it, but somewhere there is a report that they could clearly hear a woman screamin....... to me that is warrant to continue or at least make the search a bit more serious!!

[PARAGON]

Ok, now I see what you were referring to. I think the article is talking about the 2 different tapes. First tape is from the Onstar button push in the vehicle to the Onstar operator and then Onstar operator contacted 911. The second tape would be the 911 person contacting the Rangers station to initiate the search. So it would be a call in/call out situation at the 911 office and not 2 calls TO 911.

[ROX]

http://www.co.worcester.md.us/Emerge...1%20Center.htm
9-1-1 Center

Serving as the Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP, for Worcester County, the office is responsible for answering all 9-1-1 calls for service placed in Worcester County. This includes Ocean City, a year-round resort that often has a summer time population exceeding 250,000 people. The 9-1-1 Center has 14 9-1-1 trunks to accomodate numerous calls for service at one time. Using five identical Plant Equipment, Inc. consoles, Communication Clerks instantly receive Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and Automatic Location Information (ALI) on their E-911 screens. If the call for service is for an agency we direct dispatch for, the clerk will take down all pertinent information for the call and give to the appropriate clerk for dispatch. If the call for service is for one of the local municipal police department's in the County (we have five), we will transfer that call to them on their dedicated emergency line. We can also transfer callers to our four neighboring county 9-1-1 Centers, Wicomico and Somerset in Maryland, Accomac in Virginia, and Sussex County in Delaware. Along with the Sheriff's Department, the Maryland State Police Barracks in Berlin has primary responsibility for law enforcement within the non-municipal portions of the County. We rotate calls for service with MSP.

Our primary back-up in case of a 9-1-1 failure is Ocean City. Ocean City has elected to direct dispatch their own police and fire units. When a call for service is received for Ocean City, the call is immediately transferred to dispatcher's at the Town of Ocean City Public Safety Center. There, dispatcher's have the same telephone equipment as we do, and instantaneously receive ANI / ALI on their screen's. Ocean City has the ability to dispatch all of our police and fire resources should that need arise, as we also have the ability to dispatch all of their's also.

We also transfer calls for service to the United States Coast Guard and the Maryland Poison Control Center. Utilizing a "Language Line", we are able to assist foreign speaking callers as well.

[KenP]

Linda, sorry for your loss. Please keep us updated with new information. As you can see we are all interested.

[ROX]

This is the whole article for you to read:

National Park Clarifies Details Of Crash Search



Shawn J. Soper, Staff Writer

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE (02/25/2005) - It has been three weeks since the tragic single-vehicle accident in the Assateague Island National Seashore that claimed the lives of its two young occupants and questions still remain unanswered, but parks officials are ready to put the incident behind them and get back to the business of running the facility.

On Saturday, Feb. 5, around 9:30 p.m., the OnStar vehicle-equipped emergency services system received a call from a frantic woman in or near a vehicle in distress from a location determined to be on Assateague Island. While OnStar could not make verbal contact with the victim, it did relay the incident’s estimated latitude and longitude coordinates to Worcester County Emergency Services, which in turn relayed the provided information to park rangers on Assateague.

A subsequent search of the 12-mile designated off-road vehicle area on the island proved fruitless and the search was ultimately called off. Early the next day, surfers discovered an overturned Hummer SUV and the body of its driver, Adam Starkey, 25, of Cockeysville, Md. near it in the surf in an area where off-road vehicles are not allowed.

An all-day-long, multi-agency search-and-rescue operation was initiated because of the uncertainties about the possibility of additional victims, but it was ultimately called off around dusk. A little more than 12 hours later, a state park ranger found the body of Starkey’s passenger, Jennifer Holly Ashe, 24, also of Cockeysville, about a half-mile south of the Ocean City Inlet and nearly five miles north of the Hummer accident scene.

The State Medical Examiners Office last week determined the cause of Starkey’s death to be leg injuries complicated by hypothermia, As of yesterday, the official cause of death for Ashe had still not been determined.

The medical examiner’s report on the official cause of Starkey’s death indicates the victim survived the initial crash and likely perished because of exposure to the elements, but it will never be known if he or his passenger could have been saved had the accident been discovered that first night.

Park rangers did utilize GPS equipment and maps to attempt to find the vehicle in distress using the latitude and longitude coordinates provided by OnStar, but were unable to locate the vehicle, according to Assateague Island National Seashore Chief of Education and Interpretation Robert Fudge.

“We use GPS equipment quite frequently for resource management and we had some information relative to that,” he said. “We were able to do some coordinate work that first evening, but we weren’t able to locate the vehicle in distress.”

Fudge said the information provided by OnStar through Worcester County Emergency Services did not fully explain the gravity of the situation.

“We had very limited information from the OnStar alert,” he said. “We knew that it was a distress call, but it was pretty unclear to the responding rangers that they were looking for an overturned vehicle in the surf.”

Fudge said because of the vast search area and the lack of established roads or other firm landmarks, it was difficult to locate the accident on the first night.

“OnStar gave the coordinates to the county’s emergency services, who in turn passed the information along to us,” he said. “Using the information, we made the best effort we could to pinpoint the vehicle in distress. There are no cross streets on the island and the coordinates we received were not exact to the actual location. We had a general idea but it was a pretty vast area to explore.”

After the park rangers’ initial search was called off late that first night, it wasn’t until the Starky’s body and the Hummer were found early the next morning that a comprehensive multi-agency search was conducted of the entire area. It remains to be seen if a similar search conducted the night before could have possibly found the crash site and the victims.

“The sun was down and it wasn’t until the next morning when the Hummer and the driver’s body were discovered that a multi-agency operation was launched including two helicopters from the DNR and the Coast Guard,” he said. “We can initiate a search-and-rescue operation, but there are a lot of mitigating factors.”

Fudge said the park service routinely reviews its emergency response procedures and policies and no changes were likely to be implemented as a result of the tragic accident.

“There are no plans for any changes in our policies or regulations,” he said. “The regulations we have in place work but the individual did not follow them. He was driving in an area not designated for off-road vehicles, and he was traveling at a high rate of speed, certainly in excess of the speed limit.”

That does not mean the parks service is ready to close the books on the investigation from its end.

“We have measures in place to prevent this type of tragedy from happening, but we always recommit ourselves to taking a closer look at things,” he said. “We feel pretty good about what we have in place, but we will continue to investigate things.”

[tower]

Now I'm Pissed!

First, thanks Roxie, for posting that article in it's entirety.

I know that Fudge(packer) is trying to keep his liability down for the impending lawsuit, but GEEZE!

First he says they “We use GPS equipment quite frequently for RESOURCE MANAGEMENT..."

that means making sure you dynamite the correct tree stump. But no use of GPS for searches? Who's driving this bus?

"...and we had some information relative to that... We were able to do some coordinate work that first evening, but we weren’t able to locate the vehicle in distress.”

They were able to do some coordinate work that evening? That's code for

'We were bumbling around with the GPS, but we couldn't figure out if we were at those coordinates or not, and didn't want to look stupid by calling in a higher authority.'

Looks pretty stupid now, doesn't it?

But you'll notice, he never says that anyone actually used the GPS coordinates and went to the site to search. He in fact says that there are no landmarks, so they couldn't.

NEWSFLASH!!! If you have GPS, you dont need landmarks, that's the benefit of the device.

He says “We knew that it was a distress call, but it was pretty unclear to the responding rangers that they were looking for an overturned vehicle in the surf.”

Holy ****! Does this mean if the woman next door is getting brutally beaten and raped, and I can't give a detailed description of her and her assailant, that the Sheriff's Department won't come?

“There are no plans for any changes in our policies or regulations,” he said. “The regulations we have in place work but the individual did not follow them. He was driving in an area not designated for off-road vehicles, and he was traveling at a high rate of speed, certainly in excess of the speed limit.”

I hope this idiot is lying, because without some serious retraining and policy changes, more people will die. There's nothing quite so arrogant as someone being at least partially responsible for two deaths, and then blaming the victims for being out of area or speeding. Does this make them somehow less deserving of lifesaving resources and the Ranger's best efforts? If so, perhaps instead of letting "out of bounds" skiers know the risks, I should just plug them with a 9mm slug.

Sorry, but this "doublespeak" really pisses me off. My politics may be a shade left of center, but I have a hard time abiding those who don't take responsibility for the mess they've created.

t~

[KIDZBOX]

So this does beg the question of emergency services responding to On Star. I hear all those ads on the radio where everything goes flawlessly. I would have hoped that if On Star contacts an emergency service then that service would do everything possible to locate the vehicle. Obviously from the conversation the On Star operator had with the emergency people it wasn't a crank call.

And why would the ranger need a landmark? Even if the GPS coords are off a little surely you'd see a H2 wouldn't you?

Question is tho is if the girl was found 5 miles away did she walk or was the H2 washed down the coastline for 5 miles or was she? I don't know the area.

If the vehicle was washed away maybe 5 miles does make a difference in a search?

[PARAGON]

This is all adding insult to injury. First is the now the comment the the coordinates WERE passed along to the Rangers, but a previous article that says it was information retained from the tapes says the Rangers DID NOT get the coordinates. Read the first post in this thread on page 1. It specifically says that FROM THE TAPES, the Rangers did not get the coordinates from 911. Now this fudge is saying they did.

This is ridiculous in a situation as serious as this. This cover-your-ass attitude is nothing but an insult in and of itself. But I am infuriated at the quote from Fudge at the end of the article. His position is to blame everything on the driver because he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be and says he was speeding. This Clintonian double-speak and misdirection is unforgivable. It's sad that it all happened, it's sad that the system broke down, but to say that nothing needs to be changed because they did what they were supposed to and the driver was not following the rules is simply low life cover-your-ass attempts.

I would like to see this guy in front of a hearing on not only the policy but on his conduct since this has happened. I am truly angry about this insolence and just can't put my true thought down in to written words right now. I assure you I am finding someone to write to about this and I suggest others do the same.

[PARAGON]

Email address for Letter to the Editor of the paper that's been reporting:

editor@octnews.com

[Hummoron]

While I am sorry for the family's loss of a loved one, you all are bunch of aholes who believe everything is someone else's mistake.

Let's not forget that this jerk came down to the Shore in his brand new (still had dealer tags :-) "I'm a big man" hummer and acted like an ahole. He decided that he was better than everyone else and didn't need to obey the posted 4-wheeling section. I wonder if he even paid for a permit or decided he was "too good" for that too. Not only did he not respect park rules, he then decided that he was better than Mother Nature and could go screaming up the beach at whatever speed he wanted to do.

Let us imagine for a moment that while he was speeding up the beach in the NO vehicle section, he came over a hill and landed on an innocent couple laying out on the beach. They wouldn't even have had time to react before getting run over by his "I'm a big man with a little penis" hummer.

Fortunately, someone innocent did not die and instead he won the Darwin award. There is karma in the world.

I've read many of your posts. "Yeah, I would have been in the prohibited section too, that is where they should have looked for his sorry ass dead body." Maybe you should learn to respect both Park rules and Mother Nature before you too end up as worm food.

You have a responsibility as a human to respect nature and others. If you can't do that, good riddance. And stop blaming someone else for your own mistakes.

[ROX]

Originally posted by Hummoron:
While I am sorry for the family's loss of a loved one, you all are bunch of aholes who believe everything is someone else's mistake.

Let's not forget that this jerk came down to the Shore in his brand new (still had dealer tags :-) "I'm a big man" hummer and acted like an ahole. He decided that he was better than everyone else and didn't need to obey the posted 4-wheeling section. I wonder if he even paid for a permit or decided he was "too good" for that too. Not only did he not respect park rules, he then decided that he was better than Mother Nature and could go screaming up the beach at whatever speed he wanted to do.

Let us imagine for a moment that while he was speeding up the beach in the NO vehicle section, he came over a hill and landed on an innocent couple laying out on the beach. They wouldn't even have had time to react before getting run over by his "I'm a big man with a little penis" hummer.

Fortunately, someone innocent did not die and instead he won the Darwin award. There is karma in the world.

I've read many of your posts. "Yeah, I would have been in the prohibited section too, that is where they should have looked for his sorry ass dead body." Maybe you should learn to respect both Park rules and Mother Nature before you too end up as worm food.

You have a responsibility as a human to respect nature and others. If you can't do that, good riddance. And stop blaming someone else for your own mistakes.

I ought to find you and give you a good spanking. You're cold blooded and selfish. HummMoron pretty much sums it up for you, Pal. And I suggest the next time you're trying to prove something with your male/female girlfriend on the beach, you keep lookin over your shoulder, cuz it will be me! And I don't need a Hummer to kick your butt. And another thing, Take some F--ing grammar lessons. That's g r a m m a r, with two m's.

Go back to the fuh2 chat room, okay. People like you die shriveled up and lonely. Rest assured no one will be sorry to see you go.

YOU! OUT OF THE GENE-POOL!

[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.

[4churchill]

Let's not let this guy get us all riled up. I would suggest we all just ignore him.

[KenP]

I don't see where anyone is blaming anyone else for this tragedy. What I do see are many owners wondering what mistakes were made and by whom. Specifically AFTER the accident. No one here is calling for offroading in nature preserves. Read about Tread Lightly and all the participant manufacturers and owners.

There are millions of GM built vehicles on the road with OnStar. Those customers pay for it and expect a certain level of service that can be called into question with this accident. That is what has been discussed here.

Now, until you come up with something better just carry your sorry ass back to your ****-hole Rt 13 roadside farm market and hawk some collards. Oh, don't forget to check for crabs. No, not the Blue, the one's your sister gave you. What a tool.

[ROX]

Originally posted by 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.

4churchill is right....but I just have a couple more things to say to this troll.

1. I didn't say one word on this thread until HummMoron showed up and insulted Linda and her friends. All that was posted were articles on the accident and some comments from other forum members.
2. I don't appreciate it when someone says "you all are bunch of aholes". (There's that p-sspoor grammar again, probably didn't make it past 3rd grade.)
3. I agree with this HummMoron! "You have a responsibility as a human to respect nature and others. If you can't do that, good riddance." Unfortunately, HummMoron doesn't practice what he preaches! He certainly hasn't shown any respect here, or to those people that died!
4. If he ever falls off his bike down a steep incline on the side of the road someday, even if he isn't riding in a bike lane,I hope someone in a HUMMER responds to his distress call, instead of letting him freeze to death and die of his injuries!
5. About the stupid lame-o remark about driving a gas-guzzler. SO WHAT? Why do you care? You don't need gas on your bicycle! What are you conserving for? HUH?
6. "it is he who is out of the gene-pool, not me. Join your friend." I'm really feelin the love now.
6. GOOD-BYE HUMMMORON!! Next time pick a name that doesn't fit you so perfectly!

4C: I'm done. Thanks.

[HUMMERDOGG]

Gas prices are soaring because we don't have enough refining capacity and the capacity that we do have is 30 year old technology...

[Hummoron]

This is from tower who is clearly blaming the park ranger (who he refers to as "Fudge(packer)" for the deaths:

"I hope this idiot is lying, because without some serious retraining and policy changes, more people will die. There's nothing quite so arrogant as someone being at least partially responsible for two deaths, and then blaming the victims for being out of area or speeding."

And then he adds:

"Sorry, but this "doublespeak" really pisses me off. My politics may be a shade left of center, but I have a hard time abiding those who don't take responsibility for the mess they've created."

Well, it was the driver who created the mess that got himself killed. Yes, it would have been great had everything (Onsat -> 911 -> Ranger) worked and help arrived for them. But when you do something foolish, you have to take responsibility for your own actions and not expect someone else to come and save you.

Had they been in the correct area, another 4-wheeler would have probably come across them. It is amazing just how much traffic that beach sees, even in the winter.

It was the attitude from tower (and a few others) that set me of. The park rangers' job is to manage the park, create maps of the environment, control how it changes, and keep others from destroying it. Responding to someone who is stuck in the sand is not their prime role.

[Klaus]

Park Rangers perform a wide variety of duties in managing parks, historical sites, and recreational areas. Many wear a prescribed uniform.

Duties
Park Rangers supervise, manage and perform work in the conservation and use of resources in national parks and other federally-managed areas. Park Rangers carry out various tasks associated with forest or structural fire control; protection of property; gathering and dissemination of natural, historical, or scientific information; development of interpretive material for the natural, historical, or cultural features of an era; demonstration of folk art and crafts; enforcement of laws and regulations; investigation of violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents; search and rescue; and management of historical, cultural, and natural resources, such as wildlife, forests, lakeshores, seashores, historic buildings, battlefields, archaeological properties, and recreation areas. They also operate campgrounds, including such tasks as assigning sites, replenishing firewood, performing safety inspections, providing information to visitors, and leading guided tours. Differences in the exact nature of duties depend on the grade of position, the site's size and specific needs.

http://www.nps.gov/personnel/rangers.htm