Wrong Way Crash Kills 2 On Route 50 In Annapolis
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- All lanes of westbound Route 50 at Bay Dale Drive were closed for several hours early Wednesday morning after two people were killed in a three vehicle crash.
The drivers of the two cars that collided head-on, 31-year-old Christine Parks of Severn and 34-year-old Hui Xu of Herndon, Virginia, were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Two cars mangled and two people killed, the aftermath of yet another wrong way crash along Route 50. It's the second time this month, and the third time in recent weeks.
Maryland State Police say troopers from the Annapolis Barrack were dispatched to Route 50 at the Severn River Bridge around 2 a.m., after a call came in reporting a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes.
Moments later, a trooper in the area came upon a crash scene at westbound Route 50 and Bay Dale Drive. The vehicles involved were a 2002 Hyundai Accent driven by Parks, a 2002 Honda Civic driven by Xu and a 2014 Toyota Avalon.
The preliminary investigation by the Maryland State Police Crash Team indicates the vehicle driven by Parks was traveling eastbound in the left lane of westbound Route 50.
Parks struck the vehicle driven by Xu head-on, causing Xu's vehicle to rotate into the middle lane, where it was struck by the Toyota Avalon.
The driver and passenger of the Avalon, a 21-year-old man and woman from California, were both transported to the Anne Arundel County Medical Center where they were treated and released.
Investigators are trying to figure out why Parks was driving the wrong way, and where she got on Route 50.
The cause and contributing factors of the crash have not been determined, but alcohol has not been ruled out as a factor.
Alcoholic beverage containers were found in Parks' vehicle. Speed is not believed to be a factor at this time.
Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook
