Crash on Thursday jams Old Bridge

A left turn gone wrong caused a five-car accident that delayed thousands of commuters and school children in Woodbridge early Thursday morning.

Witnesses said it was the worst backup they’d seen in Lake Ridge on a road that carries scores of commuters headed toward Interstate 95 each morning.

No charges have been filed yet in the crash, which started when a 22-year-old woman made a left turn across three lanes of Old Bridge Road at 6:55 a.m., said Officer Erika Hernandez, Prince William County police spokeswoman. Her van collided with a truck—a crash that started a chain reaction of accidents that sent three people to area hospitals.

Old Bridge Road was shut down for at least two hours.

“This was the first time it’s happened when students and teachers couldn’t get here,” said Anita Flemons, principle of Old Bridge Elementary School.

Woodbridge High School suspended its tardy policy when hundreds of students and many teachers couldn’t get to school by start time, 7:30 a.m., said Ben Wood, the school’s director of safety and security.

Police didn’t clear the accident scene until 9 a.m.

“I can see Old Bridge Road from my office,” Flemons said. “Cars would sit for 15 to 20 minutes without moving.”

By 8:35 a.m. only two of the elementary school’s 10 buses had arrived.

School was scheduled to start, but about 400 students and most of the school’s teachers were missing.

“We were able to use the staff that we had to cover the classes and as the children came in and were sent the class, no one was marked tardy,” Flemons said. “I guess when Old Bridge Road shuts down it paralyzes this corridor.”

The woman was driving a Mercury Villager toward Rolling Brook Drive when her van collided with an eastbound Ford Ranger.

The woman was ejected from the Villager and was flown to an area hospital. Her condition was not available at press time.

The Ford Ranger was driven by a 41-year-old Lake Ridge man who was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries. That truck hit a Ford Mustang waiting for the light to change at Rolling Brook Drive.

A 45-year-old woman passenger in the Mustang was sent to an area hospital. Her husband, the driver, was not injured, Hernandez said. Their car hit a Honda Civic that was also waiting for the light. The Civic’s 25-year-old driver was not injured, Hernandez said.

A 1995 Saab was damaged when it drove over debris at the accident scene, Hernandez said.

The helicopter that transported the 22-year-old woman landed on Old Bridge Road, she said.

By about 9 a.m. traffic was moving freely and schools had begun.