Truck crosses center line during morning commute

KINGSVILLE, Md. - Photos captured with a cell phone show evidence of the devastating impact of the crash, but Jim Rice says the sound alone alerted him to the severity of the accident.

"The sound is unmistakable.  It's almost like an explosion you know," said Rice who grabbed a flashlight and his phone and ran out of his nearby home.

When he saw the crumpled car in his yard, he dialed 911.

"I couldn't see how the man could have survived it,” said Rice, “The damage to the passenger side of that vehicle was traumatic.  The gentleman who was the passenger was actually in the back seat of the car.  He had been thrown so hard that he was in the back seat of the car."

Paramedics arrived within a few minutes of that call, and rescue workers had to use saws to free two men from the Mazda Protégé.

"When officers arrived, they discovered people who were very seriously injured,” said Cpl. Cathy Batton of the Baltimore County Police Department, “One man, 26-year old William Strayer, Junior was taken to Franklin Square Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.  Two others, the drivers of both vehicles, were taken to Shock Trauma where they're currently listed in non-life threatening injuries condition."

At this point, investigators don’t know what caused the driver of the Chevy pickup that was travelling westbound to cross the center line, but Jim Rice says accidents like this one have become more frequent over the years as Philadelphia Road has become a busy commuter artery.

"People who come on this strip really have to be aware of the danger of driving too fast along here,” said Rice, “They just recently put rumble strips in the road here to slow people down so they don't run into school buses that are stopped for children in the neighborhood."

According to court records, Strayer lived on Philadelphia Road in Rosedale.

Just two days before the crash, he was stopped for driving with an expired license, which could explain why he was riding as a passenger in the car at the time of the accident.