Truck Driver Dies In Bay Bridge Crash

The truck, owned by Mountaire Farms, a poultry processing company based in Selbyville, Del., was headed west, apparently to markets. Company spokesman Roger Marino said he could not provide details about the driver or his driving record. Information on the company's safety record was not available last night.

The truck's trailer, still intact in about 10 feet of water, could be seen by passing motorists yesterday.

"It is a tragic loss for our company," Marino said. "It's a close-knit company, and we really feel for the family."

Ted Lopatkiewicz, spokesman for the NTSB, said the federal agency had sent two investigators to the scene and would be looking at both the bridge and the operator. The damage to the structure will be examined, he said, as well as the design, "and whether it had any impact on the outcome of the accident," he said.

Motorists interviewed yesterday raised questions about the Jersey walls and how much impact they are built to withstand.

Lopatkiewicz said he had no information on the type of Jersey walls that are part of the Bay Bridge. But he said that overall, "most Jersey walls you see are made for automobiles."

John B. Townsend II, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said his organization has raised concerns about Jersey walls and using two-way traffic on a single span of the bridge.

"The margin for error is too slim," he said. According to AAA's research, he said, "in 70 percent of fatal crashes since 1952, two-way traffic was being employed on the bridge at the time of the fatal crash."

The issue regarding two-way traffic on the span arose last year after a May 10 crash on what is normally the westbound span. A trailer became detached from the sport-utility vehicle that was pulling it, causing a seven-vehicle collision that killed three people. Officials said two-way traffic was not a factor in that crash.

The bridge, long known to Washingtonians as the route to Eastern Shore beaches, is now used by many commuters who live on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay.

Yesterday's crash aggravated the already heavy traffic that is part of beach weekends on the popular route to the shore towns of Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach and Ocean City.

With one span of the bridge closed, traffic had been routed to the newer, three-lane westbound bridge. Delays stretched as far as 13.7 miles westbound at one point last night.