Snow causes several auto accidents

January 05, 2001

Snow causes several auto accidents

By DAN KULIN / Staff Writer

More than 2 inches of snow fell in the Hagerstown area Friday, prompting some schools to close early and creating slippery roads.

Several accidents were reported, including one in which a car struck a utility pole along Halfway Boulevard, knocking the pole and power lines to the ground.

Halfway Boulevard between Oak Ridge Drive and Downsville Pike was closed around 6 p.m. and was still closed to traffic at 10:30 p.m.

A dispatcher with the Washington County Sheriff's Department said the weather was partially to blame for the accident, which left at least one electric customer without power.

Steve Davis, resident engineer for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said the snow came earlier than expected, but one plus was that salt put down during last week's snowstorm was still on the roads.

Nonetheless, police reported several accidents as the morning snow continued to fall.

Two miles east of Clear Spring on Interstate 70, a vehicle ran off the road and caused some traffic problems, police said. Vehicles slowing for that accident or going off the ramps were sliding.

Maryland State Police in Hagerstown dealt with several vehicle accidents caused by the weather, but there were no injuries reported.

In Berkeley County, W.Va., the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 near Exit 23 were closed from about 7 to 8 p.m. Friday because of a fuel spill from a minor accident, West Virginia State Police said. No injuries were reported.

Along Interstate 81 near Chambersburg, Pa., a Mississippi tractor-trailer bumped a snowplow at 11:40 a.m. Friday as the truck passed the plow in the northbound, Pennsylvania State Police said. No injuries were reported.

Staff writers Marlo Barnhart and Richard Belisle contributed to this report.

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