Four people, including one child, died the afternoon of Sunday, November 18, in a head-on collision in Anne Arundel County. The accident apparently occurred when one driver attempted to pass slower traffic on a two-way road.
According to Anne Arundel County Police, Joseph Allen Oliver Jr. of Glen Burnie was traveling northbound on Marley Neck Boulevard in a 2009 Mazda 3.
As the 30-year-old neared Freeman Shores Lane around 1:30 p.m., Oliver apparently grew impatient with slow-moving traffic ahead of him and attempted to pass some traffic by crossing over the double yellow line separating oncoming traffic.
The Mazda crashed head-on into a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am heading southbound on Marley Neck Boulevard. The driver of the Grand Am was Brittney Marie Ziegler, age 21, and a resident of Pasadena.
The impact of the crash caused the Grand Am to flip over and continue traveling backward for an additional 75 feet before coming to a stop. Both Ziegler and her passenger, 3-year-old Lilly Renee Gross of Glen Burnie, died in the crash.
The Mazda continued another 100 feet northbound in the southbound lane. Oliver’s passenger, 18-year-old Crystal Jean Benton of Laurel, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, as did Oliver.
Emergency personnel who responded to the scene of the accident said that both vehicles were severely mangled and all four people involved in the crash died at the scene.
A preliminary investigation shows that Oliver may have been speeding in his attempt to pass another vehicle. It is not yet known whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the fatal crash.
The attorneys at Nickelsporn & Lundin express our deepest condolences to the families of the four people who died in this tragic accident.