Investigators say they have a pretty good idea of what caused a tractor-trailer to plunge into the Chesapeake Bay early Sunday morning, but there's not much they can do to keep it from happening again.
Three vehicles were involved in the crash -- the tractor-trailer and two cars. The investigation is focusing on one of them, a 1997 Chevrolet Camaro. ‘The Camaro crossed the center line and side-swiped the front cab of the tractor trailer,’ said Marcus Brown, chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.
When that happened, Brown said the tractor-trailer's driver, John Short of Wicomico county, lost control of the vehicle, and it eventually tumbled into the bay. Short did not survive.
The Washington Post has identified the driver of the Camaro as Candy Lynn Baldwin, a 19-year-old from the town of Millington. A Post reporter spoke to her from her hospital bed at Shock Trauma, and she said, "I don't remember it happening because I fell asleep at the wheel, but when I woke up we were in an accident."
Chief Brown confirms his investigators have spoken with the driver of the Camaro as well. ‘She has given us statements that are similar to what she has told reporters. That's all I'm going to say on her statements right now,’ he said.
Sunday morning, the east-bound span of the Bay Bridge was carrying traffic in both directions. The head of the MdTA says for now, the practice has to continue. ‘If we lived in a perfect world we would not have two-way traffic; but it really is necessary because we need to do regular, routine maintenance on the bridges,’ said Ronald Freeland, Executive Secretary of the MdTA.
He also said the MdTA studied temporary barriers that could be placed in the middle of the roadway, but found too many down-sides. ‘It reduces the amount of usable lanes so it narrows the lanes. It increases the amount of dead weight that you have on the bridge itself,’ he said.
MdTA police are waiting for results of a blood alcohol test on the driver of the Camaro. That is expected to take about a week. Eventually it will be up to the Queen Anne's County State's Attorney to decide whether charges should be filed in connection with the crash.
