Wet roads contributed to a fatal car accident in Westminster, Maryland, on Monday, January 14.
Rise Lorraine Berger, age 39 and a resident of Union Bridge, was driving her 2002 Jeep Liberty eastbound on New Windsor Road, also known as Route 31, around 11:00 p.m. when the single-car accident happened.
According to a preliminary report by the Maryland State Police, Berger lost control of her vehicle on a wet portion of the road near Wakefield Road in Carroll County. She crashed into a utility pole just off the side of the road.
Berger’s six-year-old daughter, Marissa Meridith Carter, was in a child safety seat in the back seat. She sustained severe head trauma and died in the crash. She attended Elmer A. Wolfe Elementary School.
Police believe the safety seat may have been installed improperly. Alcohol and speed were not believed to be factors in the accident. No other vehicles were involved.
The attorneys of Nickelsporn & Lundin express our deepest sympathies to Berger and the rest of Carter’s family in their time of grief.
Meanwhile, another car hit a utility pole on Thursday, January 24, at the intersection of North Henry Street and First Street in Alexandria. No one was injured in that accident, but several people were left in the dark.
When the car hit the utility pole, the vertical pole broke, as did several of the horizontal connecting arms. This created power outages in the surrounding area. According to Dominion Power, about 680 of their customers in Alexandria experienced temporary power outages due to the car accident.