Alcohol may be factor in fatal US 50 wrong-way crash

Photo shows a red car involved in a fatal crash
Two drivers died in a crash on westbound U.S. 50 not far from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on July 26, 2016. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
Police expected all westbound lanes of U.S. 50 to remain closed through the morning rush hours. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
Police had to reconstruct what happened. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration workers at the scene of the July 26 wrong-way crash. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration workers were on the scene detouring traffic. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The Maryland State Police said two people died in the crash just east of Bay Dale Drive a little after 2 a.m. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The Maryland State Police said two people died in the crash just east of Bay Dale Drive a little after 2 a.m. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
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Photo shows a red car involved in a fatal crash
Police expected all westbound lanes of U.S. 50 to remain closed through the morning rush hours. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration workers at the scene of the July 26 wrong-way crash. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The Maryland State Police said two people died in the crash just east of Bay Dale Drive a little after 2 a.m. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

WASHINGTON — Authorities in Maryland say alcohol may have been involved in an early morning wrong-way crash that killed two people on U.S. 50 near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The fatal crash, which authorities are still investigating, occurred just east of Bay Dale Drive a little after 2 a.m. Wednesday when a 2002 Hyundai Accent crashed head-on into a 2002 Honda Civic, Maryland State Police said in news release.

Authorities identified the driver of the Accent as 31-year-old Christine Parks, of Severn, Maryland, and the driver of the Civic as Hui Xu, 34, of Herndon, Virginia. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Maryland State Police said they are still investigating what led to the crash and that they haven’t ruled out alcohol as a factor. Police said they discovered alcoholic beverage containers in Parks’ vehicle.

Authorities do not know where Parks was traveling to or from and have not yet determined where she entered U.S. 50 going the wrong way. Authorities said they do not believe speed was a factor in the crash.

Police said they were initially dispatched to U.S. 50 after getting a call that a vehicle at the Severn River Bridge was traveling the wrong way in the westbound lanes.

After Parks struck Xu’s vehicle, the Civic rotated into the middle lane, where it was also struck by a 2014 Toyota Avalon driven by Alexander Kwon, 21, of Brea, California. Kwon and his passenger, 21-year-old Janet Kim, of Fullerton, California, were both treated at Anne Arundel County Medical Center and released.

Police spent the morning reconstructing the accident, which closed the westbound lanes of U.S. 50 for several hours.

 

WTOP’s Colleen Kelleher and Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.

Jack Moore

Jack Moore joined WTOP.com as a digital writer/editor in July 2016. Previous to his current role, he covered federal government management and technology as the news editor at Nextgov.com, part of Government Executive Media Group.

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