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Perry Hall Crash Kills Mother Of 5-Year-Old; Woman Hospitalized In Serious Condition

PERRY HALL, Md. (WJZ)-- A horrible head-on crash shuts down a busy Baltimore County road. One woman is killed and another is rushed to the hospital.

Mike Hellgren spoke to the survivor of that ordeal.

The accident happened on the Baltimore and Harford County line. It is the second major accident WJZ has covered this week and it has shattered several families.

Sky Eye Chopper 13 shows the massive crash on Bel Air Road in Perry Hall. It happened as snow was falling during the evening rush Wednesday and killed Amy Marie Theiss, 30. Tracy Fitzgerald was caught up in the wreck, her car hit. She is lucky to be alive.

"It's kind of surreal," Fitzgerald said. "I mean, I am struggling a little bit with why I'm the one person that was able to walk away from the accident, quite honestly. I felt the impact of the other car come into my vehicle. I looked in the rear-view mirror of my car and I saw the vehicle behind me kind of flipping in the road."

Police say Theiss' Honda hit two SUVs. She had to be extricated from her car. Theiss has a 5-year-old daughter and her shaken mother told WJZ she had no life insurance.

Hellgren: "I know you loved her very much."
Theiss' mother: "Oh, God. You don't even know. It's very painful. I'm scared. I don't know what to do. She would do anything for anybody. She loved everybody."

Those who live along that stretch of Bel Air Road just past Honeygo Boulevard call it dangerous.

"If they're coming along that bend, the way that bend is, there's lots of ice on the road. They are already going in that direction of oncoming traffic if they hit ice," said Jeffrey Magness, a Perry Hall resident.

Police are still investigating the cause, including if weather played a factor.

"I'm really consumed with all of the 'what if's,'" Fitzgerald said. "You know, 'What if I had been driving a little bit slower?' or if I had been in a different lane or the guy behind me hadn't swerved off the road. There's a million things that could have happened."

The family of the woman who died is working to set up a memorial fund for her daughter. Police tell WJZ if they find a factor like speeding in this accident, they will set up more enforcement.

The woman whose Toyota RAV4 was hit head-on is still recovering in Shock Trauma. She is listed in serious condition.

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