Myrtle Beach reevaluates vehicle policies on city beaches after woman’s death

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Myrtle Beach officials are re-evaluating vehicle policies on city beaches after 66-year-old Sandra Schultz-Peters was hit and killed by a police truck in Horry County last month.

Schultz-Peters was killed by Lance Cpl. Julian “Duke” Brown after he pulled onto the Nash Street Public Beach Access at about 1 p.m. on June 13 in a full-sized 2020 Ford Ranger beach patrol truck.

The city of Myrtle Beach, in response to the incident, is evaluating options for safety equipment additions to the beach pickup trucks. This includes adding exterior cameras and object detection sensors to the front of the trucks. They are already installed in the back ends of the trucks.

Inside Myrtle Beach city limits, officials said that the beaches will remain having UTVs, four-wheelers and compacted pick up trucks (Ford Rangers, Chevrolet Colorado’s and Nissan Frontiers) during the daytime and congested hours.

Officials said beach pickup trucks are an important and lifesaving asset to beach public safety crews with having lifesaving equipment required by the United States Lifesaving Association that can only fit on trucks. They cited the following reasons for why it’s important:

• Floatation devices
• Rescue boards
• Spinal stabilization equipment (spineboard, head and neck immobilization and fastening devices)
• Mask, snorkel and fin sets for ocean rescues
• Marker buoys for search and rescue
• Medical Aid Kit
• Radios

Along with additional items not mentioned. The beach patrol and rescue teams already practice the following:

• The person riding in a vehicle’s passenger seat serves as a “spotter.”
• Beach truck operators must pass specified training per fire/police department.
• May not drive faster than five miles per hour on the beach.
• May only make left turns.
• Can exit the beach and use roads to get as close to the emergency as possible before re-entering the beach.

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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter , Facebook or Instagram , and read more of her work here .

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