A chilly mix of snow, sleet and rain slowed the return home yesterday for Thanksgiving holiday travelers, but did not add to Maryland's highway death toll, authorities reported.
North of Maryland, travelers did not fare nearly so well, as heavy snow snarled traffic along major highways in New York and Pennsylvania.
At Baltimore-Washington International Airport, officials reported a clogged terminal and parking lots, but no major delays.
Accidents on Maryland roads over the holiday period through Saturday claimed the lives of at least four people. The toll included a man and woman who were fatally injured early Thanksgiving Day when their Buick Century veered off Route 34 in Sharpsburg and slammed into trees, state police said.
Martha Leora Layton, 26, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., was dead at the scene of the accident. The driver, George Butler, 26, also of Shepherdstown, died at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Washington County Hospital.
The victims were not wearing seat beats, police said.
A 2-year-old who had been restrained in a child safety seat, Joshua James Layton, was treated for minor injuries at Washington County Hospital, police said.
State police said yesterday they were trying to determine the cause of the accident, the deadliest in Maryland since the holiday period began Wednesday evening.
In Frederick County, a 58-year-old Middletown man died after his car was struck head-on by another car heading east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 70 early Saturday.
Stephen Glagola, who was driving west in his 1991 Mazda Protege, was dead at the scene of the 4:57 a.m. accident, east of Monument Road.
Robert Blan, the 19-year-old Greencastle, Pa., driver whose 1989 Toyota Camry hit Mr. Glagola's car, remained in serious condition yesterday at Washington County Hospital.
A 22-year-old Waldorf man died yesterday of injuries suffered early Saturday when he drove a 1989 Ford Escort into an embankment along Route 425 near Red Hill Road in western Charles County.
The victim, Ryan Bernard Maddox, died at Washington Hospital Center's Medstar unit in the District of Columbia.
At this time last year, state police said, 606 people had been killed in traffic accidents on Maryland roads, compared with 578 thus far this year.