Tag Archives: drowning

Car Ferry Safety: Engines Off, Brakes Set, Passengers Out

Car ferries are a safe way to transport cars. But to follow best practices, you need to get out of your car while the ferry’s in open water.

I’ve written about car drownings before (in Florida, as is the case here, in New York, and in Oregon). If you die due to road trauma in the United States, statistically, this isn’t how it’s going to happen. But alongside dying in a crash-generated fire, deaths by water immersion are surely among the most feared ways of death involving motorized traffic. There’s a reason these stories make the news and have more staying power than “normal” crashes. If you’re going to die, you want it to be quick. Drowning and burning to death are not, compared to the agony they inspire.

Unfortunately, Emma Afra, 65, and Viviane Brahms, 75, suffered such a death on February 18th, 2020, around Fisher Island, Florida,  close to Miami Beach, when Emma accidentally drove their blue 2019 Mercedes-Benz car off the back of the Pelican car ferry they were traveling on and into the waters below. Let’s unpack what happened, how it could have been prevented, and what best practices look like involving car ferry safety.

How did Emma and Viviane die?

Per witness reports, Emma did not set the parking brake in her vehicle during the voyage and at some point (close to 5 PM local time), pressed the accelerator. She drove through the netting on the back of the ferry, entered the water, and the vehicle sank soon after. She and Viviane were found that evening hugging each other in the back seats of the car. The car was upside down on the bed of the ocean floor at a depth of 52 feet. The cause of death was almost certainly drowning.

Once in the water, is there any way they could have survived?

In every immersion case, we talk about how they entered the water and how the moment of leaving land (or in this case, a ferry) could have been prevented, but it’s also worth discussing if anything could have been done once the vehicle entered the water. The answer is different in every case, but the primary factors are almost always the situational knowledge of the individuals in the vehicle, the physical and mental conditions of the individuals and the rate, condition, and positions in which the vehicle in question impacted the water. Or to put it simply, your survival in an immersion situation depends on your understanding of how to leave the vehicle and how much time you have to do so, your fitness levels, and the way you hit the water. Let’s take a look at what happened with Emma and Viviane.

Given the relatively low freeboard, or deck height relative to the waterline, most of the velocity of the vehicle would have been horizontal (that spent driving off the deck) rather than vertical (that spent falling into the water). Similarly, images of the ferry shortly after the immersion suggest the vehicle would have had one length of driving room in front of it at most before leaving the deck, which also suggests a low entry speed. To put it bluntly, they would not have hit the water at a speed fast enough to severely injure or incapacitate them (remember that a 10th story fall is equivalent to a 55 mph crash), as long as they were wearing seat belts. The moment they entered the water, the clock started ticking. A car typically takes about 30 to 60 seconds to sink. They would have had to unbuckle themselves, wind down windows (remember that power windows will work for at least a few minutes in an immersion situation) or break them if they could not wind them down, and swim out. There are no other correct answers for survival unless they happened to have personal flotation devices within reach.

Calling for help would not have worked–not with their voices, not with their cell phones. Waiting for rescue would not have worked–not until they were outside the vehicle and treading water or swimming at the surface. Waiting for the vehicle to stop sinking (i.e., to touch the sea bed) in order to open the doors and swim out would not work because most people are psychologically and physically incapable of swimming 50 feet underwater on a single breath (especially in light of the fact that more than half of all Americans don’t have basic swim skills).

The moment they entered the water, they had to unbuckle, break or wind down the windows, and swim out. They had 30-60 seconds to do so. They could not. Most people, incidentally, would be unable to, because the vast majority of people would spend that survival window panicking, freezing, or calling for help. It’s a situation very, very few people are prepared for–even under ideal conditions (i.e., with low speed water entries, a lack of injuries, a lack of children or seniors, calm waters, warm waters, and daylight).

What are best practices for using car ferries safely?

The facts are sobering. Most people immersed in water deep enough to fully submerge their vehicles will drown, because they will lack the knowledge of what to do and the physical and mental abilities to do it. Only a small percentage will drown because their vehicles were so damaged escape was impossible or because they lost consciousness at impact. Statistically speaking, you’re going to freeze, panic, and drown.

With that in mind, the proverbs about ounces of prevention being better than pounds of cures are our best defenses, as they are in every high risk environment. I’ve gone on and on about how the way we drive and the places in which we drive matter far more than the vehicles we drive, and this is why: once you’re in the crash, things are out of your hands. Everything leading up to the crash is within them. You choose the roads you drive on, the speeds you use, the seat belts you attach, the car seat stages and orientations for your children, the lights you turn on, the tires you put on in the winter, and so on. All of these factors are designed to help you avoid crashes in the best scenarios and reduce injuries in the worst ones. When it comes to immersion situations, the immersion is the crash, and it’s almost always going to be a fatal one. The only winning move is to avoid it entirely.

How do you do that?

Here’s how you keep your car from driving or rolling over a car ferry deck with your loved ones inside

Well, if you’re on a car ferry, at a minimum, set your parking brake. This is the absolute least you can do, because just about every car can and will override the parking brake if the accelerator is pressed hard enough. And once you leave the deck, you’ve practically signed your death warrant, as well as those of every other occupant in your vehicle. So the parking brake isn’t good enough.

So shift your car into park along with setting the parking brake. This way there’s no possible way to drive into the ocean under your own power as long as you don’t shift out of park. The parking brake is still set to keep you from rolling off the deck if you shift into neutral. But this still isn’t good enough, because you might hit the shifter, or someone else (a child?) might bump it. And it would be no less tragic to die because you bumped out of park and didn’t know it than it would be to die because you hit the gas instead of the brakes. So the parking gear and brake aren’t good enough.

How about turning your engine off entirely? Now we’re starting to make some real moves–keeping in mind that you still are keeping your car in park while the parking brake is engaged, for reasons described above. A car in neutral, after all, doesn’t care whether the engine is on or off. But what if the ship starts to pitch and sway in rough weather? Cutting the motor, setting the parking brake, and keeping it in park isn’t good enough.

At this point, you might realize that nothing involving the vehicle itself is good enough. You can add wheel chocks, but those can move, particularly if the deck is getting sprayed with water while the ship is pitching back and forth. Chaining the car is even better, but it requires a ferry service with such resources and a policy of using them. So why don’t we skip all the way to the sure-fire, most effective solution?

Get out of the car until the ferry is docked

Best practices tend to be simple on a conceptual level. The hard part is following through. Nothing above is nearly as effective as the line you just read in bold. Get everyone out of the car and wait in the cabin with the crew, or in whichever waiting area they use for clients. The ferry doesn’t have one? Then that’s not a ferry worth taking. Respect yourself and your loved ones. Just get out of the car. Unless the entire ferry goes down (and if it does, you’ll likely have a chance to put on life preservers before it does), the ship itself is the safest possible place you could be. Not your car. Not your car. One more time for emphasis–not your car.

It might seem silly for a 10 to 15 minute ferry ride, especially if you have multiple children to unbuckle. Especially if you have infants. But the additional 5 minutes of hassle are much, much cheaper than the dozens or hundreds of years of life you and your vehicle’s occupants will lose if you find yourself rolling off the ferry because you didn’t want to get out of your car. Sometimes time is cheap, like when you’re leaving your car to wait in a cabin while on a car ferry. Sometimes it’s deathly expensive, like when your pilot gets lost in the fog and is about to crash into a hill and kill everyone onboard, or when you drive off a ferry and realize you only have 30 seconds to do your best NAVY SEAL impression for you and five other people in the second and third rows.

Put the odds on your side; don’t pitch yourself hopelessly against them. Best practices are best followed before they’re needed.

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Lynn Groesbeck, 25, Killed, Toddler Daughter Survives Crash

unsplash-ottosson-motherWho: 

Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, 25, of Springville, Utah, was killed at around 10:30 PM on Friday, March 6th, 2014 in the Spanish Fork River in Spanish Fork, Utah, when she drove her 2007-2012 red Dodge Caliber into a cement barrier on a bridge and plunged into the river by the Arrowhead Trail Road and Main Street junction, close to the Provo area. The only survivor was her 18-month old daughter, Lily, who was rescued in critical condition but released from the hospital several days later. Lynn is survived by her fiance and Lily’s father, 34-year-old Deven Trafny, who was not in the vehicle at the time of the collision. Three police officers and four fighters who participated in the rescue were treated for hypothermia and released. A support page for the family is available here.

How:

Per police and witness reports, a fisherman in the river spotted the red Dodge Caliber on Saturday at around 12:24 PM. It was floating upside down in the water. He called the non-emergency line first to report the vehicle and then notified police in a second call when discovering a woman’s hand in the vehicle.

Police, upon reaching the scene with firefighters, discovered Lily upside down and strapped into her car seat inches above the rushing water.Her mother was deceased in the driver’s seat.

Rescuers state they heard an adult female voice calling for help (stating “Help me…we’re in here.”), but cannot identify where it came from, as Lynn is believed to have died hours earlier during the collision.

Lynn had been in the nearby town of Salem on Friday visiting her parents that evening and had apparently collided with a concrete barrier on the southern end of the bridge while driving home to Springville with her daughter. It is currently not known why she contacted the barrier or why the vehicle veered off the roadway.

She left the town of Salem between approximately 10  and 10:30 PM, and the family was not aware that she did not arrive. A neighbor close to the bridge reported having heard a loud noise around the time of the collision (10:30 PM). The resident explored the area but did not see the vehicle. Lt. Cory Slaymaker from the Spanish Fork Police Department stated that it would have been impossible to see the car from the roadway due to its location.

Rescuers turned the vehicle over, as it had been upside down, in order to remove Lily from her car seat. According to first responders, her eyes were fluttering, but she was unconscious and otherwise unmoving. Lily was recovered from the vehicle through a human assembly line to get her back to shore, where first responders began performing CPR. She was transported to Mountain View Hospital by ambulance before being flown to Primary Children’s Hospital, where she was in critical condition. She had not eaten or drank in 14 hours. She was released from the hospital some days later.

Police later reported that a small bag of marijuana, a bottle of Tramadol (a narcotic-like chronic pain reliever), and an unused and unopened syringe were found in Groesbeck’s purse. However, it is unknown if these factored in the collision. There were no signs of mechanical failure in the vehicle and there were no skid marks on the road.

Investigators believe she might have clipped the concrete barrier before leaving the roadway. Drowsiness and distraction are currently being investigated as possible contributors to the crash.

Why:

It’s been a long time since I’ve written about the orphan seat, but unfortunately, the fact that this tragedy has been reported in so many news circles does make it an opportunity for advocacy about the continued importance of properly restraining our children, driving safely, and driving safe vehicles.

Let’s start at the beginning, with the collision itself and circumstances leading up to it. We know Lynn was driving home at night from visiting her parents, and it’s likely she was familiar with the area. Night driving carries risks of low-visibility, as well the more pressing risk of fatigue. With the information we have, my greatest suspicions regarding the cause of the collision with the concrete barrier are that she either began to fall asleep or that she was momentarily distracted by something. If I had to choose one of the two, I’d guess she fell asleep, especially given the lack of skid marks leading up to the collision, suggesting she did not perform any emergency braking maneuvers immediately before the crash. Whatever the initial cause of impaired driving, upon striking the barrier, she lost control of the vehicle and left the roadway, which is one of the greatest risk factors for single vehicle collision fatalities, and unfortunately drove into the river to the right of the bridge.

A risk factor present at this point that also deserves mention involves the tapered construction of the bridge barrier. While the barrier was ostensibly created to reduce the likelihoods of vehicles entering the water, the ramp-style design could easily have contributed toward launching the vehicle off the side of the road and down the hill into the river once the wheels of the vehicle made contact with the barrier. This design was not a safe one and may have played a significant role in her leaving the roadway.

We know that she was driving a Dodge Caliber, but I don’t know precisely which year. Why does the year matter? Because Electronic Stability Control, a feature shown to reduce the risks of fatal single vehicle collisions by up to 50%, was an optional feature in every year of the Caliber’s existence except for 2012, the final model year. ESC might have prevented her from completely leaving the road, or at least might have enabled her to maintain enough control to slow her descent into the river to a degree that would have enabled her to survive the collision, presuming she died of injuries due to the collision itself. However, a safety feature even more basic than ESC is ABS, or anti-lock brakes. Dodge didn’t find those important enough to make a standard feature on the Caliber either, at least until 2011. This means she might have had even less control of the vehicle than drivers of vehicles made more than a decade earlier. These are the kinds of elements that matter when choosing a safe car.

Whatever the reason, she left the road and did so in a severe enough fashion to rollover the vehicle by the time she entered the river. To Dodge’s credit, the Caliber came with side-impact airbags in every year of manufacture (and activated side airbags are visible in the images above), but it did not come with rollover-sensing airbags, which suggests the vehicle may have become airborne at some point or otherwise experienced a severe side impact while rolling into its final upturned position. Rollover-sensing airbags would have tripped the moment the vehicle started rolling over, while regular side impact airbags would not have activated until the vehicle experienced a significant side force. In other words, it’s possible that Lynn might have suffered a concussion and lost consciousness or died during the rollover itself before the vehicle came to rest in the river. Either would have rendered her incapable of rescuing herself or her daughter.

If she did not die from a side impact injury, she might alternatively have died from injuries related to the roof caving in by the A-panel, which is particularly visible in the 3rd picture of the Caliber above. The Caliber has an “acceptable” IIHS roof score, which states the roof was capable of supporting around 3.5x the vehicle’s weight before caving in by 5 inches when tested. A “good” score would have supported 4x the vehicle’s weight, and might have made the difference between the observed level of roof crush and providing a survivable amount of space in the front area of the occupant cabin.

An examination of the vehicle in the pictures above also indicates the impact that led to the rollover occurred on the passenger side, due to the extensive body damage on the right side of the vehicle and the relatively undamaged body panels on the left side of the vehicle. The lack of left-side damage also suggests the vehicle only rolled over once. However, the damage was enough to significantly crush the roofline in the front left and right sides of the vehicle.

At any rate, the roof in the rear portion of the Caliber held enough to maintain the seats of the upside-down vehicle (and Lily in her car seat) above the water line.

This brings up another point: despite the observations of the fisherman, the vehicle could not have been floating, as nearly no vehicles float for a significant amount of time when immersed in water. In an immersion, you have between a few seconds and a few minutes, on average, to exit a vehicle. You don’t have 14 hours. The vehicle was almost certainly resting against a shallow part of the riverbed that happened to be shallow enough to allow part of the vehicle to maintain above the water line.

Moving on, why did Lynn die? I have no idea. But the circumstances of the collision suggest she either died or became unconscious upon impact or died shortly after due to shock, hypothermia, or drowning. None of the reports I’ve come across indicate whether or not she was wearing a seat belt, so there’s little point in speculating further here until more information is available.

What about the drugs? Well, Lynn was apparently in a serious accident years back that could easily have left her with chronic pain that she might have been managing with Tramadol (and perhaps the marijuana). I believe private marijuana use is illegal in Utah, but again, there’s no proof that she was actually under its influence at the time. She was also in a medical assistant program, which could potentially explain the unopened syringe. I don’t know. We’ll have to wait for the toxicology reports. But given the care with which she restrained her child, I would not expect her to have been under the influence of any drugs at the time of the collision.

Regarding Lily, we can get a clearer picture of why she survived by analyzing the vehicle and the cicumstances of the collision. Images of the vehicle indicate her car seat was in the center rear seat, which is the safest position for a car seat in a collision, as it’s impossible for that position to receive a direct hit and it’s the furthest from a side impact, on average.

Being properly restrained in a car seat, including being restrained with the proper levels of harness tightness and a secure seat installation meant that she didn’t succumb to the severe forces of the impact or rollover, fly out of her seat or out of the vehicle entirely during the collision, and that she was able to remain in her seat, which, in conjunction with the relatively strong roof of the vehicle and fortunate position on the shallow riverbed, meant she was kept above the water and able to breathe and not succumb to hypothermia, even though she eventually lost consciousness.

How do we explain the female voice the first responders swear they heard that encouraged them to find Lily?

I’ll leave that up to you, as it’s beyond my expertise.

In conclusion, this is a tragic story that speaks to the need to drive safely, to choose safe vehicles, and to choose and use car seats for your youngest travelers. There is no doubt that Lily would not be alive had her mother not taken the steps she did to ensure she was safe and sound before driving away from her parents. I have no idea which car seat she used, and frankly, it doesn’t matter that much. It could have been a high-end seat like a Clek Fllo or a basic seat like a Graco Size4Me 65; both would have done an excellent job keeping her safe. And that’s the ultimate goal.

Rest in peace, Lynn. And thank you for taking care of your daughter as best as you could before you set off that night.

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Drowning Hazard: Narrows Marina Boat Launch Ramp

unsplash-walti-waterI’ve written before about the dangers of vehicle submersions before, and about the kinds of equipment you need to get yourself out of such situations in the few seconds you may have to escape. This is an example of a drowning hazard that hasn’t been fixed and that is simply waiting for anyone unfortunate enough to drive into it.

The Narrows Marina boat launch, a private boat ramp in Tacoma, Washington, has led to the deaths of at least 4 people and the immersions of at least 8 drivers in the last 14 years. It’s located at South 19th Street in Tacoma, Washington, is owned by Gordon Rush and Scott Wagner, and is the subject of this great writeup by Kari Plog.

Records from the accidents paint a similar picture: All were the result of lost or confused motorists driving into the water by mistake. All happened in the dark. Most happened at or around high tide. Often it was raining.

In other words, people are continually driving into this drowning hazard that’s essentially unmarked and not subject to local, state, or federal regulations. The owners won’t make any significant changes besides putting up a few signs, and the danger continues.

On a night almost three years ago, Baker found herself at the same dead end. Security camera footage shows her driving down the boat ramp and plowing into the water just before 1 a.m. Her car was found around 7 a.m., submerged in about 10 feet of water with her body inside.

This is a common scene around the country, unfortunately; neglectful owners of private properties who won’t install barriers to prevent accidental drownings. In order to protect yourself from these kinds of situations, you need to know what to do. And you’re not always going to be able to simply drive backwards out of tragedies.
A Bonney Lake couple was killed near the boat ramp on Feb. 15, 2005. Walter and Ethel Nash — 91 and 84 years old — drove into the water about 1:30 a.m., according to police. Their bodies were recovered several hours later.

“There were no skid marks visible on the boat ramp,” the police report states, “suggesting that the vehicle went into the water without attempting to stop.”

Security camera footage showed “no indication of brake lights until the vehicle struck the water and that the backup lights came on after that,” indicating an attempt to drive the car in reverse up the ramp.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/05/04/3178402/tacoma-boat-launch-dark-deadly.html#storylink=cpy

When your car plunges into the water, you may have anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to get yourself out. Time is of the essence. I highly recommend a life hammer to help you break through vehicle glass quickly to enable an exit. Similarly, it might not be a bad idea to pick up a personal flotation device and store it in your vehicle for such situations. The specific pieces of survival gear I recommend are described in greater detail here.

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Four Die, One Survives in Queens, NY Drowning Crash

unsplash-paskevic-flowersWho:

Darius Fletcher, 21; Crystal Gravely, 19; Jada Monique Butts, 19; Jaleel Furtado, 20, died on Friday, 4/4/14, when their 2009 Honda Accord driven by Andrew Gramm plunged into a creek in Queens, NY close to 19th Avenue and 37th St. in Astoria. Gramm managed to free himself from the car, swim to shore, and call for help at around 10:36 PM. However, everyone else died.

How:

Per reports, Gramm was speeding that night on a rainy road and was unaware that the road was leading to a dead end. When he realized it, he tried to turn, skidded sideways, and the vehicle steered into Steinway creek. The friends had been returning from a birthday dinner. The vehicle went through a 3 foot chain link fence, drove down an embankment, and entered the waters of the creek that were 10 feet deep. The driver had not been drinking. He was able to leave the vehicle, swim to shore, and call 911. Emergency services were on the scene within 6 minutes, but it took 30 minutes to extricate the passengers from the vehicle. They officially were ruled dead by drowning.

Why:

This is another unfortunate case of drowning that was entirely preventable. Nothing appears to have been physically wrong with the vehicle. Had Gramm not been speeding, he would likely have discovered his misdirection in time. However, once they were in the water, it is unclear whether or not the passengers attempted to exit the vehicle.

In such situations, is imperative to exit a vehicle immersed in water as quickly as possible. Most vehicles will typically float for at least a few minutes before beginning to sink, depending on the impact speed and angle, as well as the configuration of the vehicle’s undercarriage. It is sadly possible that the occupants may have panicked upon discovering their entry in the water, and did not think to removing their seat belts, if they were wearing ones, and exiting the vehicle. Alternatively, they might have been knocked unconscious had they not been belted.

Once a vehicle reaches a certain level of immersion, it becomes impossible to open the doors due to water pressure, and exit must be achieved either through open or broken windows or through waiting until the vehicle is fully submerged to open the doors. In the latter scenario, the odds of drowning are almost certain, as most people have begun to panic or have already given up on surviving.

While water immersions often prove fatal, they are often survivable. The presence of a safety hammer and an escape plan could have saved 4 lives here. Such a hammer enables the cutting of tangled or jammed seat belts and the breaking of glass, such as the windshield or door windows to facilitate exit. Of course, no amount of survival gear is of use if one does not act quickly in such a situation. The first step to do in an immersion is to exit the vehicle; calling for help can be done once one is clear of the vehicle and on land.

Another feature that could have saved lives here were personal flotation devices. Life jackets come in a range of sizes and many are discreet enough to either be worn under clothing without  being noticeable or small enough to stow beneath seats within easy reach for such situations. A type 3 life jacket may have saved all four lives for less than each member spent at the birthday dinner.

Ultimately, however, it is essential to know how to swim. There are a number of local programs most people can attend, while it is also possible to learn to swim through educational training DVDs online. It is entirely possible that Gramm was the only occupant to survive because he was the only occupant willing to leave the vehicle because he was the only one who knew how to swim.

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Jennifer Lee Wolfe, 35, in St. Petersburg, Florida, Killed in Minivan Drowning

The Why:

The Who:

Date: 3/10/2014, 12:36 AM.
Fatalities: 1. Jennifer Lee Wolfe, 35 (pictured right).

Where: 28th t. North before Roosevelt Blvd, St. Petersburg, FL.
Vehicles: 2004 Honda Odyssey.

Humanity: Jennifer was married with two young sons and was a stay-at-home mother who also studied nursing.

 The How: 

Jennifer was driving her Odyssey at around 12:30 home from a WalMart when she came to a turn on 28th St. North. She did not make the turn, but went straight and struck a sign post, went across lanes, and down an embankment into a retention pond. She called 911 briefly before calling her husband and informing him she had been run off the road by a separate vehicle. Her husband contacted the police, and she was found unconscious within her minivan. She was pulled from the Odyssey and taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Risk factors: Driving at night, victim of road rage?

Protective factors:

Vehicle analysis: Nothing appears to have been physically wrong with the vehicle. Jennifer stated she had been run off the road by a vehicle when she called 911. However, once she was in the water, it is unclear whether or not she attempted to exit the vehicle. In such situations, is imperative to exit a vehicle immersed in water as quickly as possible. Most vehicles will typically float for at least a few minutes before beginning to sink, depending on the impact speed and angle, as well as the configuration of the vehicle’s undercarriage. It is sadly possible that Jennifer may have panicked upon discovering her entry in the water, and focused too much on calling for help instead on removing her seat belt, if she were wearing one, and exiting the vehicle. Once a vehicle reaches a certain level of immersion, it becomes impossible to open the doors due to water pressure, and exit must be achieved either through open or broken windows or through waiting until the vehicle is fully submerged to open the doors. In the latter scenario, the odds of drowning are almost certain, as most people have begun to panic or have already given up on surviving.

Safety Gear:

While water immersions often prove fatal, they are often survivable. The presence of a safety hammer and an escape plan could have saved Jennifer’s life. Such a hammer enables the cutting of tangled or jammed seat belts and the breaking of glass, such as the windshield or door windows to facilitate exit. Of course, no amount of survival gear is of use if one does not act quickly in such a situation. The first step to do in an immersion is to exit the vehicle; calling for help can be done once one is clear of the vehicle and on land.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.