Two people suffered critical injuries in separate crashes on I-95 in Harford County that occurred within 12 hours of each other between late Friday night and late Saturday morning, Maryland State Police said.
Both of the injured were flown by Medevacs to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
In the most recent incident, troopers with the JFK Highway Barrack are investigating a crash involving a motorcycle and a minivan that occurred around 11:15 a.m near the Maryland House Travel Plaza in Aberdeen.
The motorcycle, which was traveling north and occupied only by the male operator, struck the rear of a Honda CRV minivan in the far left lane of the highway at mile maker 82.5 North, according to Sgt. Torres of the JFK Barrack.
The motorcycle operator was flown to Shock Trauma and was in critical condition as of mid-afternoon Saturday, according to Torres. The driver of the minivan was not injured.
The victim's name won't be released until notification of his family is completed, Torres said.
Torres said I-95 traffic was backed up in both directions for several hours. The left lane for northbound traffic remained closed at the accident scene, as the investigation continued. Other lanes were open.
Torres said southbound traffic also was crawling and he could see it backed up to the barrack, which is several miles north of the accident scene near Perryville on the Cecil County side of the Susquehanna River.
"It's slow going," he said. "They're moving maybe 10 miles, 15 miles an hour."
Friday night crash
In the accident late Friday night, Nicholas Gayhardt, 27, of Silver Spring, was airlifted to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center after his car overturned while he was driving north on I-95 near the Route 543 Riverside interchange.
According to a State Police news release, a trooper was wrapping up a traffic stop in the vicinity of Mile Marker 79 around midnight when Gayhardt's black Saab passed him.
The trooper, who is assigned to the JFK Barrack, took note of Gayhardt's "inability to maintain a single lane of travel," according to the news release.
The driver was "weaving erratically," and he went onto the right shoulder and other lanes on the highway, the news release continued. The trooper followed Gayhardt and put on his lights and sirens, but Gayhardt did not pull over.
Gayhardt drove north for four more miles until his vehicle veered onto the left shoulder, struck a guardrail and flipped over, according to release. Troopers, and later EMS workers, treated Gayhardt until a State Police helicopter arrived to fly him to Shock Trauma.
Gayhardt was in critical condition Saturday afternoon, a Shock Trauma spokesperson said.
State Police say they suspect alcohol contributed to the crash. Their investigation continues, according to the news release.