Spill on I-70 ties up traffic

July 11, 2005|by ANDREW SCHOTZ

Two carnival rides and trailers toppled Sunday evening as they were being hauled on Interstate 70, backing up westbound traffic.

Maryland State Police Trooper 1st Class Scott Bare said the driver, David Eugene Southard, 20, of Hagerstown, reported that the trailers started to sway and he lost control.

The trailers were attached to one another and to a 1989 Ford pickup truck Southard was driving, but both trailers separated from the truck, Bare said.

Police did not issue any tickets.

Bare said the rides were on their way to a carnival in Maugansville when they overturned at about 6 p.m. about a quarter-mile east of the Dual Highway exit.

One ride appeared to be a small Ferris wheel. The ride's cars were detached and on the back of a separate flatbed truck.

A sign on the flatbed truck said it was from Penn Wood Shows in Gettysburg, Pa.

Both lanes of traffic were closed as a tow truck worked to pull the rides upright, one at a time. Part of the time, one lane of traffic was allowed through.

Bare said Melissa Dawn Cole, 18, of Martinsburg, W.Va., was riding with Southard.

Southard declined to comment on the accident.

Bare said two other minor accidents happened west of Dual Highway as eastbound traffic ahead slowed to look at the overturned carnival rides.

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