Aug 13, 2008 5:49 pm US/Eastern
Investigators Focus On Driver In Bay Bridge Crash
Reporting
Adam May
KENT ISLAND, Md. (WJZ) ―
-
-
A tractor trailer driver was killed in the Bay Bridge accident.
CBS
There is new information about the deadly Bay Bridge accident that sent a truck over the edge.
Investigators are focusing on a young driver who claims she fell asleep at the wheel.
Adam May reports on new evidence and examines two other issues that contributed to the severity of the crash.
On state land, accident investigators study the wreckage and recreate the point of impact from Sunday's Chesapeake Bay Bridge accident.
"All of these vehicles have information, in essence, evidence," said Cpl. Jonathan Green with the Maryland Transportation Authority.
A source on the scene told
Eyewitness News the examination could take weeks. Scientific evidence gathered so far indicates the Camaro did swerve into oncoming traffic.
The driver, Candy Baldwin, 19, called her sports car powerful and sexy on her MySpace page. She also told the Washington Post she fell asleep at the wheel.
Baldwin has a history of speeding. She plead guilty to driving 70 miles an hour in a 50 zone back in 2006 and 72 miles an hour in a 55 less than a year ago.
She has not been charged in connection with the wreck that sent a tractor trailer over the jersey wall, killing the driver. At the time, traffic was two-way because the westbound span was closed for construction. Many drivers say that traffic pattern worries them.
"It's just kinda luck of the draw, if you happen to be going over the bridge at the same time and no one is paying attention," said a driver.
Over the past four years, there have been 259 accidents on the Bay Bridge. At least 24% of them are during two-way traffic operations. Six percent involved vehicles traveling in opposite directions, and they are often the most serious. Last year, a trailer hitch came unattached, leaving three dead and five injured.
State officials are reviewing their two-way traffic protocols, but they don't have many options.
"When we only had one span of the Bay Bridge, we were in two-way traffic for some 21 years before we built the second span," said Ronald Freeland, MdTA Executive Secretary.
Some also question the security of those jersey walls, considering they failed to keep the truck on the road. They are a few inches shorter than current construction standards. Due to the enormous cost, though, the state has no plans to enhance the barriers.
If a new bridge is ever built, under law, the jersey walls would have to be about eight inches taller.
Candy Baldwin is still hospitalized, but she's been interviewed by police numerous times.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Great NFL Hair
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
