- Two people were taken to hospital with serious injuries
- Motorists waited five hours for the eastbound and westbound lanes to reopen
- One witness described the scene as “graphic” and noted that he saw bloodied airbags
Dark fog obscured visibility and injured 13 people, two seriously, during a 43-car crash on Maryland’s Bay Bridge.
According to Maryland Transportation Authority police, 23 vehicles were involved in a “chain reaction crash” on the western span of the bridge around 8 a.m. Saturday.
The crash caused a series of ‘secondary accidents’ involving about twenty other vehicles. Thirteen people were transported to local hospitals, two of whom were seriously injured.
While it is unclear what caused the first crash, a dense fog warning was in effect for areas east of the bridge. A video submitted to WUSA 9 shows blurred taillights through a haze of gray fog.
“I was very nervous, I told my grandson this is very dangerous, you can’t even see it in front of you… and so I went slow,” Ruth Hayes told the outlet.
Thirteen people were taken to hospital after a 43-car crash on Maryland’s Bay Bridge
Around 8am on Saturday, 23 vehicles were involved in a ‘chain reaction accident’ which sparked a series of ‘secondary accidents’ involving a further 20 vehicles.
The eastbound and westbound lanes remained closed for five hours as emergency crews treated the injured and removed destroyed vehicles from the bridge.
The woman recorded the appalling conditions from her vehicle, creating extra space between herself and other drivers. Suddenly she felt her car shaking.
“I got hit and all you could hear was the crunch of cars because there was a pile-up behind us too,” Hayes said.
It wasn’t until she and her grandson stepped outside that they realized the magnitude of the crash. Grandson Landen Cahill described the scene as “graphic.”
“It was pretty bad,” Cahill said, noting he saw air bags with blood on them.
Aerial footage shows emergency services in fluorescent vests arriving at the scene and walking among broken glass as some vehicles are loaded onto flatbed trailers.
Because rescuers couldn’t drive onto the bridge, Hayes said, they walked up and down with stretchers to carry the injured away.
She and her grandson were among hundreds of drivers who waited five hours for the eastbound and westbound lanes to reopen. Luckily they only came out shocked.
“I’m glad I’m alive,” Cahill said.
Around 2 p.m., the MDTA announced that all lanes had reopened.
One witness described the scene as ‘graphic’, adding that he saw bloodied airbags
Police continue to investigate the cause of the accident, but drivers suspect dense fog played a role
Another witness said emergency services loaded the victims into stretchers and carried them off the bridge on foot as traffic came to a standstill
Hundreds of motorists waited for hours before the bridge reopened. Two people were taken to hospital with serious injuries, but none were in life-threatening condition
The Maryland Transportation Authority announced that all lanes had reopened at 2 p.m
The police are further investigating the moments leading up to the accident and are asking for the public’s help.
For many drivers the culprit is clear. “This fog is so dense that people aren’t paying attention, and that’s causing a lot of these problems,” motorist Jamie Myrick told WBAL-TV.
The National Weather Service is urging motorists to reduce speed when visibility is poor.
Motorists should turn on their low beam headlights to make themselves visible to others and use fog lights if possible.
Never use high beams, the agency says, because they cause glare.