A tractor trailer careened off the side of the Bay Bridge in the early hours Aug. 10 during a three-vehicle crash, plunging into the Chesapeake Bay and killing the driver, police said.
Two people in a Chevrolet Camaro involved in the 3:55 a.m. wreck were injured. They were flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries. Two people in the other car, a Toyota Prius, were not injured.
Divers pulled the driver from the tractor trailer shortly after the wreck. The 18-wheeler, which is owned by Mountaire Farms in Delaware, landed upright and settled with its top visible in about 10 feet of water.
Few details about the wreck — which occurred on the two-lane, eastbound span of the bridge — were available. Cpl. Jonathan Green, spokesman for Maryland Transportation Authority Police, could not say why the truck drove off the bridge or name the victims. He said he has not heard of a vehicle driving off the side of the bridge in his 15-year history with the department.
At 6 p.m., the eastbound span remained closed. The westbound span was open for two-way traffic, with two lanes open to westbound traffic and one lane open to eastbound traffic.
Drivers on Route 50 reported delays of more than three hours both ways during the afternoon and the number to call for Bay Bridge traffic conditions rang busy most of the day. Eastbound traffic was backed up past the Severn River Bridge and Interstate 97 this afternoon. Cpl. Green said westbound delays stretched to the Route 301/Route 50 split.
“This is one of the worst experiences of my life,” said Ben Boyer of Schellsburg, Pa., as he crept east on Route 50 toward the Severn River Bridge on his way to Ocean City. “It’s hot, ... (my air conditioning isn’t work), and now it’s raining on top of everything.”
Two-way traffic was in effect on the eastbound span at the time of the wreck. Cpl. Green explained the westbound span was closed for maintenance.
Cpl. Green said the tractor trailer was heading west when it crossed the eastbound lanes and struck the jersey wall a quarter-mile from Kent Island. It busted through the wall and landed in the shallow water about 30 to 40 feet below.
The unidentified truck driver was a Mountaire employee. Cpl. Green said police are working to contact the family.
“We are devastated. We are a really close-knit family,” said Roger Marino, spokesman for Mountaire Farms — a poultry company with farms in Delaware and North Carolina. He declined further comment, saying he knew little about what happened. “This is a tragic loss for the entire Mountaire family.”
sdaugherty@capitalgazette.com
