ANNAPOLIS — Short- and long-term safety improvements for the Bay Bridge are underway after a report on a federal investigation of an accident that sent a passenger vehicle over the guardrail and into the water below was released last week.
Around 8:30 p.m. last July 19, a Calvert County woman was heading eastbound on the Bay Bridge headed to Ocean City when her vehicle was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer. The force of the collision forced the passenger vehicle driven by Morgan Lake, 22, of Calvert County up and over the guardrail on the eastbound bridge and in plunged 40 feet into the water below. Miraculously, Lake was able to swim from the submerged vehicle to a rock jetty where she was rescued.
The accident last July prompted a call for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to study the two spans over the Chesapeake Bay and make recommendations on how to improve the major conduit for traffic to the Eastern Shore and Ocean City. The report released last week found the victim’s passenger vehicle had slowed to just four mph during the heavy weekend traffic on the bridge and the inexperienced tractor-trailer driver on his first solo run in the U.S. was looking in his rear view mirror and was distracted when he ran into the back of the vehicle at a high rate of speed, forcing it over the guardrail and into the water below.
As a result, the NTSB study recommended a series of short- and long-term safety improvement on the Bay Bridge and many of the short-term changes are already in the process of being implemented. For example, one short term change will require headlight use at all times on both the eastbound and westbound spans.
The Maryland Transportation Authority is also improving the speed limit signage by installing 40 mph speed limit signs at the beginning of the eastbound signs immediately after the toll plaza. The 40 mph zone will extend beyond the curve on the eastbound bridge where the accident occurred last July. Beyond that curve, the speed limit will increase to 50 mph on the straight areas of the span. In addition, curve warning signs will be installed, as well as “do not tailgate” signs and “your speed is” signs.
In the long term, the MDTA is currently studying the eastbound span for a major deck rehabilitation. If a decision is made to proceed with improvements to the bridge deck, the MDTA would also upgrade the barrier system at the same time. Testing of the bridge deck condition is currently underway and a final report is due by the end of the year.
Following the near tragic accident on the Bay Bridge last July, U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski called on the NTSB to conduct and thorough investigation of the accident and the condition of the bridge’s barrier systems and make recommendations on how to improve safety and avoid similar accidents in the future. Mikulski this week praised the NTSB’s final report, but urged state and federal officials not to simply put the report and the proposed changes on the shelf.
“I appreciate the NTSB’s independent review and knowing the Maryland Transportation Authority is taking the appropriate steps to improve the bridge’s safety in the short term,” she said. “The report is a reminder of the areas on the bridge that require completer driver awareness. This factual data will help state officials improve the bridge’s safety for the upcoming season, but we can’t sit back with a sigh of relief.”
Mikulski instead urged state and federal officials to follow through with long-term plans to improve bridge safety for the hundreds of thousands of motorists who use the spans day in and day out, particularly in the summer months when the bridge is the major conduit for traffic bound for the Eastern Shore and Ocean City.
“Safety for Maryland’s families and commuters is my top priority,” she said. “So is making sure those first-time motorists on the bridge are properly informed of their driving responsibilities. The state of Maryland must remain committed to improving the safety of the bridge in the long term. I expect relentless follow-through when it comes to safety. Everyone, no matter their destination, should feel safe when they drive across the Bay Bridge.”