A teen driver involved in Sunday’s deadly crash atop the Chesapeake Bay Bridge may have been asleep behind the wheel, according to Maryland transportation officials who said speed and alcohol may also have been factors.
Police and federal transportation officials continue to investigate the crash that killed John Robert Short, 57, of Willards, and stranded thousands of motorists for hours. Maryland Transportation Authority Police Chief Marcus Brown said he is awaiting the results of an alcohol analysis for 19-year-old Candy Lynn Baldwin, the driver of a Chevrolet Camaro that crossed the center line and sideswiped Short’s tractor-trailer.
Brown said a preliminary investigation indicates Baldwin hit the truck, which swerved across the bridge and slid on top of a concrete barrier before rolling over. The rear of the trailer broke through the barrier, leaving a 10-foot gap. No charges have been filed.
Safety advocates from AAA Mid-Atlantic said barriers on Maryland’s overpasses and bridges are designed to withstand impact only from passenger vehicles, not trucks.
Authority Secretary Ronald Freeland said the bridge was built according to safety regulations in place in the 1950s and that the barriers were replaced in the 1980s. He called the infrastructure “obsolete,” but safe.
“The barrier did not fail so much as the driver of the truck,” Freeland said. “We believe he was traveling at a speed of 55 miles per hour and hit very direct and with such force.”
The speed limit on the bridge is 45 mph.
State transportation officials said the incident, which occurred amid two-way traffic, marked the first time a vehicle fell off the Bay Bridge in its 56-year history.
“It’s not the optimal way to do business, but it’s really the only way to do maintenance and system preservation to make sure the bridge is safe and structurally sound,” Freeland said.
