Roxanne and Glen M. knew that when snow started to cover the roads around their home, it was time to stay put. Snow almost always meant the roads that wound through the mountains in Fayetteville, Tennessee, would be treacherous.

Yet, after 12 years of never venturing out onto Tennessee’s snowy roads, the couple thought it would be fine to head into town with just a light snow covering the ground in January of 2022. After all, they had moved to Tennessee from Indiana, where there was no avoiding snow-covered roads in the winter.

And it was fine until they came to a curve with a patch of black ice. Without any warning, the truck skidded as it hit the ice and careened across the road.

“The truck just took off and my husband couldn’t control it,” Roxanne says. “We ended up on the other side of the road hitting a tree head-on.”

The truck slid down an embankment and ended up against two small trees, but OnStar’s Automatic Crash Response* system detected the crash. An OnStar Advisor connected directly into their vehicle, and Glen told the Advisor they needed an ambulance.

If they had to call for help, Roxanne or Glen would have had to walk to a clearing to get any reception; in their area, cell service can be hard to come by. Nonetheless, OnStar was able to help.

Roxanne said about 15 minutes after they told the OnStar Advisor they needed an ambulance, one arrived at the crash. Since OnStar automatically locates your vehicle in the event of a crash, the Advisor was able to direct First Responders to the exact location of their vehicle. 

Due to the way their truck was leaning against the embankment, the emergency responders had trouble getting Roxanne and Glen out of the truck, but eventually they got out and received the help they needed. 

In addition to receiving the vehicle’s location, Advisors receive information about the severity of the crash and can alert First Responders to potential serious injuries. And, because OnStar Emergency Advisors* are certified to provide Emergency Medical Dispatch assistance, they can also provide medical assistance until help arrives, which can be important when every minute counts.   

Roxanne recovered from the crash several months later, and since then, she hasn’t stopped telling friends and family about OnStar and how it helped them.

“We’ve been telling them, if they have OnStar on their vehicle, they should really consider subscribing,” Roxanne says. “If it wasn’t for OnStar, I don’t know how long it would’ve been before somebody would’ve come along and seen us and got us help.”