Elderly Woman Faces Charges In Wrong-Way Crash On Rt. 50
QUEENSTOWN, Md. (WJZ)—An elderly woman is facing charges after driving in the opposite direction on Route 50 and causing a major accident. Three people are still recovering at Shock Trauma.
Rochelle Ritchie reports the charges against the woman are pending.
You would think that someone would have to be impaired to drive head-on into traffic, but Maryland State Police say that is not the case in this situation. They say she simply was not paying attention.
Sky Eye Chopper 13 captured the incredible scene Thursday afternoon: the serious accident on Route 50 left three people with serious injuries and traffic backed up for miles.
"We had received a phone call just prior to this collision that a vehicle was traveling the wrong way on Route 301 heading toward the Route 50 split, and then the next call right after that was about this collision that had just occurred," said Cpl. John Hickey, Maryland State Police.
Police say 77-year-old Mary Kathryn Greer, of Queenstown, faces traffic violations after driving head-on into a tractor trailer hauling fertilizer.
"The tractor trailer driver actually did an outstanding job of maintaining control of his vehicle after being struck head-on. He was able to safely take the tractor trailer into the center median, where he could've easily gone into the other oncoming lanes of traffic," Hickey said.
State police say Greer was driving her Jeep Cherokee westbound in the eastbound lane when she hit the tractor trailer. The car spun out in all three lanes, hitting a Hummer and a Dodge Durango. The tractor trailer went into the median and hit a pickup truck.
Greer and two other people were flown to Shock Trauma. The other accident victims were not injured.
WJZ tried speaking to one family involved in the near fatal accident, but they were not home. Their neighbors say Route 50 needs better direction.
"They could put bigger signs up as to which way west and east on Route 50 is," said Hattie Newbilll, victim's neighbor.
Greer remains at Shock Trauma in critical condition.
The driver of the tractor trailer—54-year-old Ernest Glenn Adams of Delaware—was not injured.
