Prince George’s County Man Dies In Route 50 Accident

BERLIN — An increasingly troublesome section of Route 50 near the Wal-Mart and Home Depot claimed another life last weekend when a Prince George’s County died after losing control of his vehicle just west of Riddle Lane.

Around 4 a.m. last Sunday, Maryland State Police responded to a single-vehicle accident on westbound Route 50 just west of Riddle Lane and Sam Bowen Blvd. The investigation revealed the victim, identified as Ryan Young Hatton, of Glen Dale, was traveling west on Route 50 when he lost control of his 2000 Toyota.

The vehicle traveled through the median and across the eastbound lanes of Route 50 where it struck a traffic signal support pole at the intersection for one of the entrances into the Wal-Mart-Home Depot complex. The vehicle overturned during the collision, ejecting Hatton. The victim was taken by ambulance to AGH where he succumbed to his injuries.

Eastbound Route 50 was shut down for several hours during the investigation and cleanup operation. Also assisting at the scene were Worcester County Sheriff’s deputies, the Berlin Fire Department and the State Highway Administration.

The accident early last Sunday morning was the latest in a fairly recent string of fatal accidents along Route 50 between Berlin and West Ocean City, although there does not appear to be a common thread between the incidents.

On April 8, a Berlin woman succumbed to injuries she received in a single-vehicle accident on eastbound Route 50 near Sam Bowen Blvd. Melanie Welton, 44, was traveling east on Route 50 near Sam Bowen Blvd. when her vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree in the median. Welton was transported to AGH where she perished from injuries suffered in the crash. Route 50 was closed in both directions for several hours and eastbound traffic was routed through the Wal-Mart complex and westbound traffic was routed through the service road.

Last Sept. 19, a man was killed when his vehicle traveling east on Route 50 near the Wal-Mart and Home Depot at Sam Bowen Blvd. left the roadway, traveled across a field and crashed into a ditch. The driver, John Hall, 53, of Berlin, was declared deceased at the scene. While the signal pattern and traffic configuration has changed greatly since, a New Jersey mother and her 14-year-old daughter were killed near the same intersection in August 2006 when the vehicle they were traveling in attempted to cross the highway and was struck by a truck traveling westbound.