BALTIMORE — The two vehicles that collided last month on the Baltimore Beltway, ultimately killing six highway workers, were speeding before they crashed, causing one vehicle to enter an access point and work zone, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The preliminary assessment released by the board Thursday does not reveal many new details on the March 22 crash on Interstate 695 that killed five employees of Concrete General and one inspector, who were all struck by a vehicle involved. The federal board is still probing the crash for the purpose of issuing safety recommendations, and it expects to release a full report in about a year.
The two vehicles involved in the crash, a 2017 Acura TLX and a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta, were “reportedly traveling at speeds higher than the posted limit of 55 mph, the regular speed for the beltway and greater than the speed of the adjacent traffic,” the safety board said in its report. The vehicles collided, causing the Acura to “spin out of control” and pass through an opening in concrete barriers for the work zone in the median, located in Woodlawn north of Dogwood Road.
“The opening was one of several access points designed to allow construction vehicles into the work zone,” the safety board wrote. “As the Acura traveled through the work zone, it struck miscellaneous construction materials and six of the workers before eventually coming to a stop after overturning.”
The odds of a vehicle slipping through the small entrance were very slim, said Gerald Ullman, a senior research engineer at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute who reviewed footage of the crash that was released to media outlets.
“The odds of something — somebody who’s lost control — getting right into that small area is, you know, very, very unlikely,” Ullman said.
The driver of the Acura, Lisa Adrienne Lea, 54, of Randallstown, was seriously injured in the crash, and was recently released from Shock Trauma, according to the Maryland State Police, the primary agency in charge of investigating the collision. The driver of the Volkswagen, Melachi Brown, reported no injuries. Neither motorist involved has been charged, according to court records.
The six highway workers killed were identified as Sybil Lee DiMaggio, a 46-year-old Severna Park resident who worked as an inspector for KCI Technologies, as well as five Concrete General employees: Rolando Ruiz, 46, of Laurel; Carlos Orlando Villatoro Escobar, 43, and his brother, Jose Armando Escobar, 52, both of Frederick; and Mahlon Simmons III, 31, and his father, Mahlon Simmons II, 52, both of Union Bridge.
The six were assigned to a project aiming to address congestion along I-695 from I-70 to Maryland 43 in White Marsh by converting portions of the existing median shoulder into a travel lane during the morning and evening rush hours.
Before the release of the federal board’s assessment, neither the Maryland State Highway Administration nor the Maryland State Police would answer questions about the speed limit near the work zone, deflecting inquiries to each other.
