1979 — Apr 23, impaired driver, pickup speeds through curve into trees ~Crofton, MD– 10
–10 Evening Capital/Scott Lebar. “10th teen-ager dies from crash; charges eyed.” 5-22-1979, p1
–10 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. FARS 1975-2010 Fatality Analysis.
–10 NTSB. HAR. Ford…Pickup Truck…Collision, Patuxent Rd…Crofton, MD, Apr 23, 1979.
Narrative Information
National Transportation Safety Board: “Synopsis
“About 9:15 p.m. on April 23, 1979, a compact pickup truck with 12 teenaged occupants was traveling between 64 and 78 mph along a winding country road near Crofton, Maryland, when it failed to negotiate a curve to the left.[1] The truck ran off the right side of the road and struck three trees located about 7 feet from the edge of the pavement. Ten passengers were killed and one passenger was seriously injured; the driver was injured slightly.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was high speed, reckless driving of a vehicle by a driver who was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.[2] Contributing to the severe consequences of the accident was the presence of passengers in the open bed of the pickup truck, an area that offered no crash protection.
RECOMMENDATIONS
“As a result of Its investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended:
to the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances:
“Establish model guidelines for prohibiting passengers from riding in open-cargo areas of vehicles that are not being used for work-related purposes. (Class U, Priority Action) (H-79-40.)” (NTSB. HAR. Ford…Pickup Truck…Collision, Patuxent Rd…Crofton, MD, April 23, 1979.)
Newspaper
April 24: “Crofton, Md. (AP) — A pickup truck carrying 12 young people to a park where they were to meet friends for a party crashed into trees and overturned last night, killing eight persons and injuring the others, police said. All the victims were dependents of Army personnel at Fort Meade, according to Officer Jack Rayhart, of the Anne Arundel County police.
“The teenagers were riding on a dark isolated stretch of rural road when they crashed, Rayhart said. They were traveling from Odenton to Patuxent Park ‘to have a party with friends,’ he added. Dour males and four females in their teens were killed and three males and a female were injured — two critically, according to reports from hospital officials. Only the driver, Alan Cole, 18, of Baltimore, escaped serious injury. He was listed in good condition with multiple lacerations and contusions at Kimbrough Army Hospital, officials said….
“The victims were identified as Paul Morenz, 16; Tammera Weaver, 16, and her 18-year-old brother, Robert; Barry DeAoun, 14, and his 15-year-old sister, Denise; Cindy Bray, no age given; Marilyn Harris, no age given, and Clark Kusha, 14, authorities said. Seven of the dead victims resided at Fort Meade, authorities said.
“Tina Neal, 15, of Fort Meade, suffering from internal injuries and injuries to her left arm, pelvis and back, and Eugene Renaud, 15, of For Meade, being treated for injuries to his head, chest, left arm and both legs, were listed in critical condition at the Shock Trauma Unit, Ms. Herschel said.
“The accident occurred on Patuxent River Road about four miles from here, officers said. The road is sued as a shortcut between Odenton and Crofton….” (AP. “Truck Crash Kills Eight Teenagers.” Cumberland Evening Times, MD, 4-24-1979, p. 7.)
April 25: “….The crash occurred shortly after 9 p.m. as driver Alan Cole, 18, of 2821 Hinsdale Drive in Baltimore, rounded a curve on the dark, rural road, lost control, and slammed into a tree. Before the truck came to rest, it turned over on its roof, throwing from its open bed the eight passengers, who had been hanging onto a rollbar. Three of the youths, Cynthia Bray, 18, Denise De Aoun, 15, and Marilyn Harris, 14, were pulled from the cab of the truck….
“Investigators found the stretch of Patuxent Road near Conaway Road, where the accident happened, to be narrow, winding and ‘crowned,’ meaning that it rises slightly in the middle and tapers off at the unpaved shoulders for drainage….” (Evening Capital (Fran Krzywicki), Annapolis, MD. “Crash among worst ever in state.” 4-25-1979, p. 10.)
April 25: “ ‘At most accidents you hear moaning, crying, screaming. This one was silent. The silence of death is just horrifying. It really was. The silence was-deafening, really. The stillness of the whole thing was frightening. Everywhere I looked, it seemed, there was a body.’ Anne Arundel County Police Sgt. Richard D. Smith was describing the scene that greeted him Monday night as he turned a corner on Patuxent Road near Crofton and arrived at the spot where a compact pickup truck carrying 12 teen-agers had slammed into a tree….
“About 9 o’clock, the group decided to leave the bowling alley and drive to an area in Patuxent River Park known as the Pond where, they heard, some of their friends were having an impromptu party…. ‘we were drinking, smoking too…’[3]
April 26: “The Ford sub-compact pickup truck which crashed on a curve on Patuxent Road near Crofton Monday night killing eight teen-agers was going ‘at least 60 miles an hour,’ according to preliminary evidence from a National Transportation Safety Board investigation…..The posted speed limit for that stretch of the windy, narrow road is 30 miles an hour….
“Police…found two marijuana pipes, a film canister containing suspected drugs, a scale suspected used to measure illicit drugs, and three tubes of contact household cement at the scene….” (Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Speed linked to fatal crash.” 4-26-1979, p. 1.)
May 1: “The April 23 crash on Patuxent Road that killed eight Fort George G. Meade youths claimed its ninth victim yesterday afternoon [April 30]. Eugene Renaud, 15…died at 4:12 pm in the Shock-Trauma Unit of University Hospital, according to a hospital nurse. A hospital spokeswoman said Renaud never regained consciousness following the accident…
“Only Tina Neal, 15…remains in the Shock-Trauma Unit in serious condition this morning….” (Evening Capital/Fran Krzywicki, Annapolis, MD. “Crash claims 9th victim.” 5-1-1979, p. 1.)
May 22: “Tina Neal, 15, died early this morning and became the 10th fatality of the April 23 accident on Patuxent Road, matching the worst auto accident death toll in state history. Her death also virtually assures that another pair of charges will be added to the 21 counts against Alan B. Cole, 18, the driver of the small pickup truck that ran off the road and crashed, subsequently killing all but one of the other 11 passengers….
“Cole…was charged with nine counts each of automobile manslaughter and homicide with a vehicle while intoxicated on May 7….Cole also was charged with one count each of speeding, reckless and negligent driving, and driving while intoxicated….Cole has pleaded not guilty to the charges….The maximum penalty for manslaughter is three years in jail and/or $1,000 fine. The penalty for homicide with a vehicle is two years and/or $1,000….
“Miss Neal died at 3:13 a.m. at the Shock-Trauma Unit of the University Hospital in Baltimore, where she had been hospitalized since the accident. She was suffering from internal injuries, a fractured left arm and left leg and pelvic and back injuries….” (Evening Capital/Scott Lebar. “10th teen-ager dies from crash; charges eyed.” 5-22-1979, p. 1.)
Dec 12: “Alan B. Cole, the 19-year-old driver of a pickup truck that crashed last April, killing 10 teen-agers in Maryland’s worst traffic accident in a decade, was given a three-year suspended sentence in Circuit Court here today. While Cole will not go to jail, he will be assigned to a program of psychotherapy, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and volunteer work as a condition of the probation granted by Circuit Court Judge Samuel W. Barrick. Cole…was convicted of 10 counts of automobile manslaughter here two months ago…
“In the courtroom this morning, Judge Barrick said he relied heavily on a presentencing report prepared by the Maryland State Department of Parole and Probation that termed Cole a “passive, dependent person with depressive features.” The report recommended against putting him in prison. “Many people have a direct concern with what this court does,” said Barrick, as he sentenced Cole. “But 10 lives have been lost, and it doesn’t do anything to ruin another.”
“The National Transportation Safety Board, in a report that was not allowed as evidence in Cole’s trial, said witnesses saw Cole drinking tequila and beer and smoking marijuana on the day of the crash. However, the jury acquitted Cole of committing homicide with a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
“Cole is scheduled to begin a month of drug and alcohol education at the Tuerk House in Baltimore this month. Thereafter, he will work 20 hours a week with accident victims and handicapped people at the John F. Kennedy Institute in Baltimore for the remainder of his three-year sentence. He also will undergo psychotherapy with doctors at nearby Johns Hopkins Institute….” (Washington Post/Chip Brown. “Driver Receives Suspended Term in Deaths of 10.” 12-12-1979.)
Fatalities
(Compiled by Blanchard from sources below.)
Bray, Cynthia (Cindy) 18 April 23
De Aoun, Barry 14 April 23
De Aoun, Denise 15 April 23
Harris, Marilyn 14 April 23
Kusaj, Clark 14 April 23
Morenz, Paul 16 April 23
Neal, Tina 15 May 22
Renaud, Eugene 15 April 30
Weaver, Robert 18 April 23
Weaver, Tammera 16 April 23
Sources
Associated Press. “Truck Crash Kills Eight Teenagers.” Cumberland Evening Times, MD, 4-24-1979, p. 7. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-evening-times-apr-24-1979-p-7/?tag
Evening Capital/Scott Lebar, Annapolis, MD. “10th teen-ager dies from crash; charges eyed.” 5-22-1979, p. 1. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-may-22-1979-p-1/?tag
Evening Capital (Fran Krzywicki), Annapolis, MD. “Crash among worst ever in state.” 4-25-1979, p. 10. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-apr-25-1979-p-10/?tag
Evening Capital (Fran Krzywicki), Annapolis, MD. “Crash claims 9th victim.” 5-1-1979, p. 1. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-may-01-1979-p-1/?tag
Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Shock follows the tragic crash.” 4-25-1979, p. 10. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-apr-25-1979-p-10/
Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Speed linked to fatal crash.” 4-26-1979, p. 1. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-apr-26-1979-p-1/?tag
Evening Capital (Bruce Friedland and Robert Knight), Annapolis, MD. “Tragedy brings agony.” 4-25-1979, p. 1. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-apr-25-1979/
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Partial Data Dump of Crashes Involving 10 or More Fatalities, by Year, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1975-2009 Final and 2010 ARF. Washington, DC: NHTSA, pdf file provided to Wayne Blanchard, 1-26-2012.
National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Ford Courier Pickup Truck, Fixed-Object Collision, Patuxent Road, Near Crofton, Maryland, April 23, 1979 (NTSB HAR-79/06; NTIS PB-300545/AS). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted September 6, 1979. Accessed at: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1979/HAR7906.htm
Washington Post (Chip Brown). “Driver Receives Suspended Term in Deaths of 10.” 12-12-1979. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/12/12/driver-receives-suspended-term-in-deaths-of-10/da336f41-f401-4758-9e78-438836777b90/?utm_term=.f5ae0a668f33
Washington Post (John Feinstein and Chris Schauble.” “Everywhere He Looked, a Body.” 4-25-1979. Accessed 7-23-2017 at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/04/25/everywhere-he-looked-a-body/0c3806c1-e618-4223-8625-2a38fdff9885/?utm_term=.c04c09f2794f
[1] A news report writes that all of the occupants of the vehicle, except the driver, lived at the Fort George G. Meade military base. The driver, Alan Cole, the son of a retired Army sergeant formerly stationed at Fort Meade, lived in nearby Baltimore. (Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Tragedy brings agony.” 4-25-1979, p. 1.)
[2] A newspaper report notes that his truck was embroidered with…a gold marijuana leaf on the hood…” (Evening Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Shock follows the tragic crash.” 4-25-1979, p. 10.) Paper notes he had dropped out of HS.
[3] Quote from member of larger group of friends at the on-base bowling alley who did not go with his friends– was supposed to be home by 9:00.