Andes, NY - Elderly NY Couple Dies; Car Stuck, No Cell Service; Wife Helped Jews Escape Nazis |
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Madeleine had been honored as a Christian who helped Jews escape the Nazis in France when she was just 17Andes, NY - An elderly Manhattan couple whose car became stuck near their wooded Catskills vacation home died after nine fruitless attempts to make a cellphone call for help and after the woman searched in vain for a neighbor.
State police and family members say 88-year-old Arthur Morris slid their car down an embankment 60 feet from their vacation home on May 3 in Andes, 115 miles northwest of Manhattan. Family members told the New York Daily News (http://nydn.us/J2Nwmh) that Morris tried to get out but became wedged between the tilted car and the ground and was asphyxiated.
His wife, 89-year-old Madeleine, walked to a neighbor’s empty house and died of exposure after a rainy night under a tarp.
Cell service is spotty in the rural area.
Two years ago, then-Congressman Scott Murphy sent a public appeal to cell phone carriers to cover Delaware County, but it never happened.
Arthur, a Juilliard-educated music teacher, had heart disease and a hernia. His wife, a retired professor who survived the Nazi occupation in France, had two knee replacements but was mentally sharp.
Madeleine had been honored as a Christian who helped Jews escape the Nazis in France when she was just 17.
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Read Comments (24) — Post Yours »
1
May 11, 2012 at 10:47 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
THERE MUST BE A MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AGE FOR DRIVER LICENCE
2
May 11, 2012 at 10:47 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
And the NYS legislature bans cell phones in cars. Very sad. May their memories be blessed
3
May 11, 2012 at 11:26 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Nebuch
4
May 11, 2012 at 11:22 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ And the NYS legislature bans cell phones in cars. Very sad. May their memories be blessed ”
Nice try, but this wonderful couple who saved Jews, HAD a cell phone but IT DID NOT WORK IN THAT AREA.
5
May 11, 2012 at 11:23 AM seagul47 Says:Report as Inappropriate
#1--it had nothing to do with age of the driver.
#2--they had a cell phone--but no cell towers (same problem as happened on the Northway (I-87 north of Albany).
also the legislature bans use of handheld phones while driving, and this wasn't the case.
you can have all the cellphones you want but if there are no towers or reception, they are useless.
you must force the cellphone companies to have reception everywhere, even in remote areas--they make enough money and should be part of their public service. Landline companies have to do it. Cellphone companies should be required to do it, at least to provide 911 service.
6
May 11, 2012 at 11:26 AM Andes Says:Report as Inappropriate
Camp L'man Achai is also located in Andes, NY. I have been there and was always bothered by the fact that there was no cell phone service.
7
May 11, 2012 at 11:51 AM MarkTwain2 Says:Report as Inappropriate
Would on-Star have worked?
8
May 11, 2012 at 11:52 AM cynic Says:Report as Inappropriate
It sounds like she might have been unsuccessfully trying ("nine fruitless attempts..:") to call a friend or relative. There's a slight chance that a call to "911" would have worked.
Under FCC rules, a cellular carrier _must_ allow a "911 call" to go through, even if your phone doesn't have an account with them. So it's possible that her "own" carrier didn't have good coverage, but another might have. And a call to "911" would have gone through on the one with a better signal.
- Just mentioning this to point out that, if you can't get through to your friend/relative and it's critical, it's worth trying "911" with the chance of getting that alternate routing.
9
May 11, 2012 at 12:01 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ THERE MUST BE A MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AGE FOR DRIVER LICENCE ”
This has nothing to do with age. Same could have happened with a 22 yr old couple.
10
May 11, 2012 at 12:10 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
and don't forget, cell phones is not to old
11
May 11, 2012 at 12:41 PM post4 Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Would on-Star have worked? ”
I think onstar works with satellite, so it might of worked.
12
May 11, 2012 at 12:49 PM JOTHEPROFESSOR Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ And the NYS legislature bans cell phones in cars. Very sad. May their memories be blessed ”
It bans the USE while driving; they had a cell phone but they were, unfortunately, in a 'dead' area.
13
May 11, 2012 at 12:52 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Camp L'man Achai is also located in Andes, NY. I have been there and was always bothered by the fact that there was no cell phone service. ”
Agree 100%
14
May 11, 2012 at 01:14 PM Reb Yid Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ This has nothing to do with age. Same could have happened with a 22 yr old couple. ”
Are you joking? A 22 year old man would have been less likely to lose control of the car, less likely to asphyxiate himself getting out of the car, and more likely to be able to break into the house so as not to die of exposure overnight.
It sounds reassuring to say "oh, it's great, my 88 yr old dad lives alone and he's fine," but he's fine only when everything is proceeding normally. When his car rolls down an embankment on a rainy cold night in the middle of nowhere, everything is not going to be fine.
15
May 11, 2012 at 01:26 PM silenthocker Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ It sounds like she might have been unsuccessfully trying ("nine fruitless attempts..:") to call a friend or relative. There's a slight chance that a call to "911" would have worked.
Under FCC rules, a cellular carrier _must_ allow a "911 call" to go through, even if your phone doesn't have an account with them. So it's possible that her "own" carrier didn't have good coverage, but another might have. And a call to "911" would have gone through on the one with a better signal.
- Just mentioning this to point out that, if you can't get through to your friend/relative and it's critical, it's worth trying "911" with the chance of getting that alternate routing. ”
I'm not sure where you read that she made phone calls to family. It says she tried calling for help (911) and then tried to find a neighbor.
16
May 11, 2012 at 01:49 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Can anyone explain why the GPS works fine even in the most remote locations (and its free service) but the cell service that charge us for service plus all the taxes and fees is so spotty and keaps cutting off all the time?
17
May 11, 2012 at 01:53 PM common-sense Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ #1--it had nothing to do with age of the driver.
#2--they had a cell phone--but no cell towers (same problem as happened on the Northway (I-87 north of Albany).
also the legislature bans use of handheld phones while driving, and this wasn't the case.
you can have all the cellphones you want but if there are no towers or reception, they are useless.
you must force the cellphone companies to have reception everywhere, even in remote areas--they make enough money and should be part of their public service. Landline companies have to do it. Cellphone companies should be required to do it, at least to provide 911 service. ”
This has nothing do to with the cell phone companies. This is a result of lobbying by crazy "environmentalists" whothing that cell phone towers would mar the view of the adirondacks. Better to have a good view of the Adirondacks than to save lives.
18
May 11, 2012 at 02:15 PM Have a heart Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ THERE MUST BE A MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AGE FOR DRIVER LICENCE ”
How hard hearted can one be. Old people do a better job driving the roads then the young. How.many times have the country roads claimed lives of young people. The fact that there was NO CELLPHONE SIGNALS, unfortunately claimed the lives of this elderly couple. Where there is no service there has to be a landline or an emergency phone service. So sorry to hear the tragic news.
19
May 11, 2012 at 03:55 PM ShmuelG Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Can anyone explain why the GPS works fine even in the most remote locations (and its free service) but the cell service that charge us for service plus all the taxes and fees is so spotty and keaps cutting off all the time? ”
Because GPS devices work off satellites, cell phones - off cell towers on the ground.
20
May 11, 2012 at 04:04 PM ShmuelG Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ #1--it had nothing to do with age of the driver.
#2--they had a cell phone--but no cell towers (same problem as happened on the Northway (I-87 north of Albany).
also the legislature bans use of handheld phones while driving, and this wasn't the case.
you can have all the cellphones you want but if there are no towers or reception, they are useless.
you must force the cellphone companies to have reception everywhere, even in remote areas--they make enough money and should be part of their public service. Landline companies have to do it. Cellphone companies should be required to do it, at least to provide 911 service. ”
"you must force the cellphone companies to have reception everywhere"
I have no way of knowing whether you are a liberal, but would be willing to bet on it because your instincts certainly are (and liberals are not in the habit, or are incapable, of thinking things through, they go by their feelings and instincts).
So you would force every wireless provider, large and small, to provide universal reception. And how many startups will be able to get into the business, if from the start they have to provide universal reception? But having competition, companies rising and falling on their merits, is not the socialist model. The socialist model is: one country, one leader, one cell phone company.
21
May 11, 2012 at 05:06 PM A Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ THERE MUST BE A MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AGE FOR DRIVER LICENCE ”
Wrong as far as a maximum age limit. Not all people become so frail that they are incapable of driving normaly when they get old. I do think, however, that when someone becomes a certain age (70?) that they need to retake their road test and then every next 5 years.
22
May 11, 2012 at 05:24 PM yidster Says:Report as Inappropriate
i hope never to be in such a situation, but i heard a good thing to do is to send a text message or email, that might go through at any given moment,
23
May 12, 2012 at 04:31 PM blackandwhite Says:Report as Inappropriate
there is probably technology to get a satellite-driven 911 type of message out from a GPS or even a properly featured cellphone (if they would be developed that way). Maybe the phone companies could subsidize these calls -instead of putting in celltowers in remote areas.
24
May 13, 2012 at 10:43 AM clear-thinker Says:Report as Inappropriate
I am overwhelmed by the response. Rather than mourning the fact that a righteous woman died, people are only interested in age. If they had been Jewish would people have mourned them? This woman was honored for saving Jews during the holocaust. May she rest in peace.