Accidents and Closings Follow Storms

Havoc Across Region's Major Highways

A Montgomery County Ride On bus collided with a tractor-trailer truck near Germanton, Md. (MSNBC)

Icy roads west of Washington made this morning one of the worst days in recent memory on area highways.

There were scores of accidents, 50 or 60 in Montgomery County alone, and more in Virginia. Two were fatal.

Late in the morning, three vehicles -- a tractor-trailer, a van and a Montgomery County Ride On bus -- were involved in an accident in the Germantown area that injured six people, three of them seriously, said Pete Piringer, a spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue. Three people were trapped for a time in their vehicles before rescue workers freed them, including the driver of the bus, which was not carrying any passengers, Piringer said. He said a witness indicated that weather was not a factor in the crash.

Piringer said the accident occurred about 10:45 a.m. at the intersection of Ridge Road and Brink Road. A dozen fire and rescue units and two medical evacuation helicopters went to the scene to transport victims to hospitals, he said.

The injured included all five of the people in the van, two of whom were seriously hurt. One has life-threatening injuries, Piringer said. The bus driver also sustained serious injuries. The driver of the tractor trailer was unhurt.

Earlier this morning, every major interstate closed at one point or another, including parts of Interstate-270 from the Beltway to Frederick and beyond; parts of Interstate-66 from the Beltway westward; the Dulles Toll Road; parts of Route 355 in Maryland; the George Washington Parkway and Beach Drive.

And, of course, lots of schools opened late or simply closed for the day.

The traffic accidents occurred when temperatures took an unexpected drop below freezing early in the morning, catching motorists and road crews by surprise. The result was the worst possible road scenario -- black ice in the dark.

Chuck Gischlar, spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said forecasts called for temperatures 36 degrees and above. But north of Route 370 in Montgomery County, that didn't hold.

While trucks had been sent home loaded with chemicals for treating the roads, the highways to the north were frozen by 5 a.m., and rush hour traffic was building.

The worst of it in Maryland was on I-270 from Gaithersburg north, where there were numerous spinouts, a jackknifed truck and immobilized vehicles in the northbound lanes, compounded by rubbernecking in the southbound lanes, Gischlar said. At one point, traffic was backed up all the way to Frederick.

Virginia highways were experiencing the same freeze, setting off a chain of accidents that claimed two lives, one on Route 28 at Compton Road, according to Prince William County police, and another where the Beltway meets the Dulles Toll Road.