ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 15, 1995 TAG: 9512150096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
Three people died and dozens were injured as cars skidded and slipped on icy roads overnight in Northern Virginia, officials said Thursday.
Lingering bad weather fouled the morning commute for thousands of motorists, despite efforts by the Virginia Department of Transportation to treat major roads.
A couple of sand trucks flipped over on the very roads they were trying to treat, Transportation Department spokeswoman Joan Morris said.
Some counties closed schools while others opened late.
State police said so many accidents were reported that officers lost count.
Any incline became treacherous for motorists as Wednesday's light snow and rain froze to a thin sheet of ice across the region.
State police worked a 30-car pileup in the inner loop of the Capital Beltway and another involving at least that many cars on the Virginia 644 ramp off Interstate 95 in Fairfax County.
An 18-year-old died in the I-95 pileup. State police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said the dead man was in the back seat of a car that spun off the ramp, crashed through a guardrail, flipped over and landed upside down 20 feet up in a tree.
``The vehicle spun out of control as it was trying to avoid other cars that had gone out of control,'' Caldwell said.
The 16-year-old girl driving the car and an 18-year-old boy in the front seat were in serious condition at Fairfax Hospital, after they were thrown from the car.
In Shenandoah County, a 48-year-old Rockingham County man died when he lost control of his vehicle and swerved in front of a tour bus while both were southbound on I-81. The car, driven by Francis M. Samson, was wedged between the bus and a guardrail, state police said. Bus driver Gary Shaw, 54, of Stuarts Draft hurt his knee. Shaw was alone on the bus.
Elsewhere in Shenandoah County, a car driven by an 80-year-old man slid and hit an embankment early Thursday, Caldwell said. The man was able to get out of his car but apparently had a heart attack and died at the scene, she said.
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB