One Dead On Route 32 After Tuesday Night Car Crash Leads To Second, Subsequent Collision

The first crash had left the driver unharmed but had also left her car disabled in the middle of the road on eastbound Route 32 – and that is where another car struck it, a collision that would kill the driver of that second vehicle, according to the Howard County Police Department.

The name of the victim is being withheld until his or her family has been notified.

The crashes happened at about 10:20 p.m. on eastbound Route 32 just east of the exits for Interstate 95.

A 2008 Nissan Versa had been headed east when it went off the road, hitting a guardrail on the left shoulder and then ricocheting back into the roadway, coming to a stop in the center lane, police said.

The driver of the Versa got out of her car and was calling for help when the second crash happened – a 1991 Honda Accord, also headed east, struck the Versa, police said.

The driver of the Accord would be pronounced dead on the scene.

The driver of the Versa – identified by police as Anna Artapova, 23, of Catonsville – was not injured.

A section of Route 32 and an exit ramp to I-95 were closed off until 12:30 a.m. while officers investigated the crash and cleared the area.

Their preliminary investigation determined that "failure to control speed to avoid a collision" caused both crashes, police said.