A head-on traffic accident with a semi tractor-trailer along Interstate 70 killed a Damascus, MD, woman early on a Wednesday morning. Police investigating the car-truck collision believe that drinking and driving may have been the cause of the woman using the wrong exit and allegedly driving against traffic on the highway.
The accident reportedly occurred sometime before 3am shortly after Jennifer Shankle Owen’s 2005 Acura entered the interstate from Md. 85 via and exit ramp. The 49-year-old’s vehicle then traveled in an easterly direction in the westbound lanes, this according to eye witness reports provided by police. The Acura was eventually hit head-on by an 18-wheeler operated by 53-year-old Gregory Heavener.
Police and emergency personnel responded to the crash scene at around 2:45am. Based on news articles, Owen was pronounced dead at the scene; her body was transported to the Baltimore medical examiner’s office to undergo autopsy. According to police, the trucker was unhurt following the crash.
Drinking and driving was apparently a factor in the fatal accident, according to police. This particular collision was reportedly the second fatal wreck to have occurred in Frederick County over a three-day period in which alcohol allegedly played a part, said police. The previous accident involved a 31-year-old man who died on Md. 80 after his vehicle crossed the centerline of the roadway and collided with another passenger vehicle.
Damascus woman killed in I-70 crash, FrederickNewspost.com, December 9, 2010