Ayuk Etta, 40, of Lanham was standing outside a Mercedes near Route 50 when he was struck by a Honda.

The crash spilled across multiple lanes of traffic.

The 19-year-old driver of the Honda and its four passengers are expected to be OK, Maryland State Police said. Two passengers in the Mercedes were treated at a hospital and released.

Road safety experts say people should never get out of a vehicle along a stretch of road like that unless they are certain it’s safe to do so.

“If you don’t have a Jersey wall or something to get behind and you don’t feel safer outside your vehicle, sometimes staying in the vehicle is the safer option than being on foot and right close to where your vehicle is,” Maryland State Police Capt. Brian Smith said.

The state’s move over law includes all vehicles on the side of the road as of Oct. 1, 2022.

“One thing we do remind our drivers, as well, if you do become disabled, put your four-way flashers on because that will trigger the move over law for vehicles to move over if they can,” Smith said.

If they can’t, they are required to slow down.

Police believe speed contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

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All northbound lanes of I-495 were closed at Georgetown Pike, the Virginia Department of Transportation said at about 7:40 a.m.

A traffic camera showed the tractor-trailer on its side and a long line of cars stopped.

Drivers were advised to seek alternate routes and expect delays. Drivers were directed onto Georgetown Pike.

“Signal timings are being monitored and adjusted on nearby roads,” VDOT said on X.

Two left lanes were open as of 9:30 a.m. In an update at 11:10 a.m., VDOT said the crash had been cleared and all lanes were back open.

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Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

But thanks to a new bus service, it’s about to get easier.

News4 spotted a Fairfax Connector bus training for the new service on the streets of Bethesda on Tuesday, just weeks before the 798 bus line will start running between the two locations.

Fairfax County says the service, which is the first express route of its kind, has been a focus of the transportation department.

“We’re really about trying to get connectivity and mobility throughout the county and throughout the region,” said Gregg Steverson, acting director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

The bus service along the Beltway will be an alternative to a very long train trip on Metro, which requires going into D.C., switching Metro lines, and then heading back out of the District on the other side.

Still, some riders may find the 798 bus line a hard sell, as the bus will need to compete with traffic on the Beltway and the Legion Bridge.

“It takes forever to drive out to Tysons, so I’d rather take the train,” said Edward, one of those riders.

And it’s a long way to go if you don’t have a good reason.

“I have no need to go to Tysons,” said Steve Clark, another bus rider.

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But there are plans to eventually have some buses between Tysons and Bethesda running in dedicated bus lanes or express lanes, speeding up the trip.

And other riders, like Abudnegu, are on board. He says he rides between the two locations all the time.

“I would love to do that,” he said of riding the new bus line. “I think it’s going to be very efficient. So that would be great. I would love to get that.”

The new route is also expected to serve the National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The buses will start by running every 20 minutes during the morning and afternoon rush, for $4.80 one way. Service is expected to begin on Sept. 16.

You can learn more about the route here.

The Potomac River is very much so the dividing line, and right in the middle of the tension is the Wilson Bridge. Some officials say there’s enough space on top of the bridge to make major changes, but not everyone is sold.

The question is whether express lanes in Virginia should be expanded across the bridge into Prince George’s County. The Virginia Department of Transportation says that’s an easy yes.

“It would connect National Harbor to Tysons,” VDOT Northern Virginia District Engineer Bill Cuttler said. “More Virginians being able to go over and enjoy National Harbor, the connectivity to Springfield, everything else.”

The express lanes allow drivers to pay a toll for the promise of a speedy trip. Others can use the lanes for free if they have three or more people in their car.

But during a recent meeting at the region’s transportation planning board, Prince George’s County Council member Eric Olson said he’s not sold that more traffic won’t just be dumped into Maryland.

“I will add that Prince George’s has significant concerns about this project, about moving the bottleneck,” he said. “I know senator spoke about the bottleneck in Virginia. We don’t want that bottleneck to move into Prince George’s County.”

The Wilson Bridge was built with the thought that either dedicated bus lanes or Metrorail would run across it at some point.

VDOT estimates it’s been collecting $20 million to $30 million per year from the express lane network already in place in Virginia.

A major vote on the express lanes is scheduled for next week at the region’s transportation planning board.

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The trooper, identified as C. Aziz, responded to Interstate 495 in Fairfax County about 3 a.m. because a sedan had stopped along the dotted lines between two right-hand travel lanes, according to Virginia State Police and video from the scene.

The trooper was speaking to the driver of the stopped sedan as vehicles whizzed by in the left lanes, video apparently taken from the trooper’s dash cam shows.

Then, a suspected drunk driver in a Jeep slammed into a tractor-trailer that was stopped behind the sedan, police said.

The Jeep spun into the trooper’s patrol car, which had been parked behind the sedan with lights flashing, police said.

The trooper’s patrol car was shoved forward, hitting the trooper and knocking her down, the video shows. The trooper can be heard shouting as she falls.

The video shows the trooper quickly standing up and speaking into a radio.

She didn’t break any bones, but faces a long road to recovery, police said while sharing the shocking video. A photo shows the back passenger side of the trooper’s vehicle crumpled.

The driver of the Jeep, 35-year-old Joanna F. Hatch of Alexandria, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. The sedan driver, Erica D. Bernard, 43, of Albright, West Virginia, was arrested on several charges including driving under the influence of drugs, possession of a controlled substance and improperly stopping on a highway.

Under Virginia law, drivers are required to move over if they see flashing lights and it’s safe to change to a lane farther from authorities.

The trooper was trying to assist a driver under the influence of drugs on the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County after another person driving intoxicated slammed into a tractor-trailer, police said.

Authorities said that a Virginia State Police trooper was dispatched to a sedan that had stopped in the area of Litter River Turnpike in Fairfax County after 3 a.m. The driver refused the trooper’s request to exit or move the car to a safer location on the Beltway, according to Fairfax County police.

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The driver was blocking a travel lane on the Inner Loop and had forced a tractor-trailer to stop, police said. As the trooper was standing next to the sedan, a Jeep Cherokee struck the stopped tractor-trailer, police said.

The crash caused the Jeep to spin and hit the trooper’s patrol car, which then crashed into the sedan, pushing the car into the trooper, police said.

The trooper had minor injuries and was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital for further evaluation, police said. The driver of the sedan was also treated for minor injuries after the crash.

According to officials, both drivers were arrested for driving under the influence. Both were taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

All travel lanes were reopened after the crash was cleared out.

Police are still working to learn who shot and killed Nyah Hairston and why.

Hairston’s car was found in a ditch. Officers had to break a window to get her from the car before she died at a hospital.

“You can’t just say, ‘Well, that happened and we need to move on.’ We’ll never be able to move on,” her great-aunt Florence James said.

Hairston was headed home from work and was 10 minutes from home when she was shot on Friday, May 3, loved ones say.

She worked for UPS and as a hairstylist. She was a shy kid with a kind spirit, and she was driven to become successful, her aunt said.

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Maryland State Police say they have spent the past month searching for video of the scene and looking for clues that could lead to suspects.

Investigators preliminariily believe the crime was random.

“We have reason to believe that it is going to be random. We can’t prove that at this point but all roads lead to that,” Lt. Kyle Clark said.

Investigators have received little information on Hairston’s case. They say the timing and location of the shooting have presented some challengers, including that it was raining and there was a lot of traffic.

Hairston’s family said they’re hoping the shooter will be caught.

“Somebody saw something, somebody knows something and someone has heard something,” James said.

“We definitely want everybody to keep talking about Nyah, speaking about Nyah, knowing that Nyah was a decent person,” she said.

A reward of up to $20,000 is available for information that could lead to an arrest. Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.

The crash investigation between Connecticut and Georgia avenues shut down all lanes of the Inner Loop of the Beltway (Interstate 495) for hours.

Debris spread out across the interstate and the three wrecked cars forced crews to shut down the Inner Loop, according to Assistant Fire Chief David Pazos.

Lanes were back open before 8 a.m., but traffic backups on the Inner Loop were stretching 5.5 miles, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration. Rubbernecking delays on the Outer Loop stretched onto Interstate 95, officials said.

Three vehicles were involved in the crash shortly before 3 a.m., according to Montgomery County Fire spokesperson Pete Piringer.

A Honda Accord struck a Jeep Wrangler and a Honda Civic while entering the Beltway via a ramp from southbound Georgia Avenue, according to Maryland State Police’s preliminary investigation.

At least one person was ejected from the vehicle, and another was trapped and pulled from the wreckage, Piringer said.

All those injured were treated as trauma patients, Piringer said. Six adults were taken to hospitals, but the adult passenger from the Honda Accord died on the scene, police said.

“We had to provide enough advanced life support as well as manpower to assist with those patients and that takes time,” Pazos said. “And then after that getting them to the right hospital so they can get treated for their injuries.”

Further information on their conditions wasn’t immediately released.

Photos from the scene show the Jeep flipped onto its roof, resting near a concrete barrier wall, near the two Hondas.

Maryland State Police are investigating. Authorities haven’t detailed what may have caused the crash.

Montgomery County police were rerouting traffic from the Beltway before the Inner Loop reopened.

Stay with News4 for more on this developing story.

Maryland State Police were initially called to reports of a car in a ditch off the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) near Landover Road. When they arrived, they found that Hairston had been shot. She was taken to a hospital, where she died. She was just 20 years old.

Police are still working to learn who shot Hairston and why.

“We’ve just been devastated ever since,” Florence James, Hairston’s great-aunt, told News4.

“When you talk about Nyah, you smile, because she made everybody happy,” she said. “She wanted people to know that things could happen for people with positive goals.”

Hairston started her own hairstyling business and was passionate about her work. She was close to her loved ones and loved to travel.

“She just wanted a positive life, and she was on her way,” her great-aunt said. “She was on her way and this tragic situation happened to her.”

State police are still searching for the shooter and have not made any arrests. They’re still trying to piece together exactly where Hairston was driving when she was shot. The hope is that someone out there saw something that could help lead police to Hairston’s killer.

“Please just say something. She should not have been hurt like that and killed. Not Nyah. Not Nyah,” James said.

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Hairston was laid to rest on Thursday. Her family said their faith and support from the community are giving them strength.

“We’re gonna have anger. We’re gonna have sorrow. We’re gonna cry. But we’re going to acknowledge her every day of our lives,” Hairston’s great-aunt said.

Anyone with potentially relevant information on the shooting is asked to contact police.

“I couldn’t believe this was happening,” said the driver, whose name we are not sharing.

He said he picked up a passenger in a residential area of Rockville, Maryland, just after 2 a.m. Friday. He says once they started driving, the situation quickly got strange. The man asked him if he could help change a tire, and then asked him to stop the car so he could relieve himself.

As they got onto the Beltway heading to Silver Spring, the driver said he watched in the rearview mirror as the passenger pulled something out of a bag. It was a steak knife.

“All I’m seeing is this, I mean, lunatic, coming after me with a knife. Every time he swings, I’m just like, ‘Where is that knife going to land?'” the victim said.

The wounds of the driver — a fit 32-year-old who has boxed, wrestled and done combat sports since childhood — show how he fought for his life.

“Stay alive,” he said. “Stay alive. That’s it.”

He described trying to shake the man off him by driving erratically across the Beltway.

“I started driving crazy so he wasn’t really stable in the back seat,” he said. “So he kept falling from side to side. And I was just trying to buy myself enough time to stop.”

The driver managed to stop on the Beltway and pulled the man out of the car. Another driver, whom he later learned is a security officer, stopped to help.

The security guard used a stun gun on the passenger. Minutes later, officers arrived and arrested the suspect, identified in Maryland State Police charging documents as Rengga Pratama, a 38-year-old Rockville resident.

The driver was stabbed seven times, according to the charging documents. He was taken to a hospital. Days later, he is still in pain, and in shock. He had planned to drive only for another couple of weeks, as he prepares to start his own tech company. Sadly, it’s not the first traumatic incident he’s had while driving rideshare.

“I got carjacked before, years ago, and I thought something like this would never happen again,” he said.

Pratama is charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

Ayuk Etta, 40, of Lanham was standing outside a Mercedes near Route 50 when he was struck by a Honda.

The crash spilled across multiple lanes of traffic.

The 19-year-old driver of the Honda and its four passengers are expected to be OK, Maryland State Police said. Two passengers in the Mercedes were treated at a hospital and released.

Road safety experts say people should never get out of a vehicle along a stretch of road like that unless they are certain it’s safe to do so.

“If you don’t have a Jersey wall or something to get behind and you don’t feel safer outside your vehicle, sometimes staying in the vehicle is the safer option than being on foot and right close to where your vehicle is,” Maryland State Police Capt. Brian Smith said.

The state’s move over law includes all vehicles on the side of the road as of Oct. 1, 2022.

“One thing we do remind our drivers, as well, if you do become disabled, put your four-way flashers on because that will trigger the move over law for vehicles to move over if they can,” Smith said.

If they can’t, they are required to slow down.

Police believe speed contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

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The family of Vanessa and Michael Schwartz say the couple was in an Uber with a friend heading home after the couple’s first night out since the birth of their daughter, Lucy, eight months ago.

After getting out of the Uber, Vanessa was hit and killed while walking on Interstate 495 in Fairfax County.

“This was a preventable situation,” said Chad Schwartz, the victim’s brother-in-law. “That’s why this is why this is so devastating.  It didn’t have to happen.”

The family believes the Uber driver is to blame.

“We’re not exactly sure what happened, but they were kicked out of the Uber in the middle of the highway, and it was raining and dark,” Chad Schwartz said.

The family showed News4 a screenshot of what they say shows the Uber trip start to finish – the end point appearing to be still on I-495 or very close to the interstate.

News4 cannot verify the authenticity of the screen shot but asked Uber if the company would verify the drop-off location and if it met Uber’s expectations. The ride-share company did not answer either of those questions but said it talked with the driver and removed access to the driver’s app while the crash is investigated. The driver has not been charged.

In a statement, a spokesperson said, in part, “Our hearts break for Mrs. Schwartz’s family” and the company is “continuing to look into this incident” and “supporting law enforcement with their investigation.”

Michael Schwartz and the friend were not on the interstate when Virginia State Police responded to the crash.

In a new statement Wednesday, state police told News4, “At this time, there is no evidence to indicate she was dropped off or left along I-495. Instead, it appears she made her way to the interstate from a secondary roadway.”

While police investigate and a family grieves, their community is stepping up to help. An online fundraiser has brought in almost $35,000 to help with the funeral and to build a savings for the 8-month-old girl she leaves behind.

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Vanessa Schwartz was struck by a car after getting out of an Uber on Interstate 495 in Fairfax County, Virginia, her family said.

She leaves behind her husband, Michael Schwartz, and their baby daughter, Lucy.

“I just cannot imagine that he now has to raise this girl on his own after this really terrible situation,” said the victim’s tearful brother-in-law, Chad Schwartz.

The couple and a friend took an Uber home, but why she got out of the car on the Beltway is still unclear, according to Virginia State Police. The driver who hit Schwartz wasn’t able to avoid her, police said.

Schwartz’s close friend Denise Platon spoke of the hole left in her life now.

“In that same house, I found my husband,” Platon said, crying. “So, if it wouldn’t have been for her, I wouldn’t have met him.”

They eventually worked together and were there for each other as they became moms.

“Being a mother was everything to her,” Platon said. “That’s all she ever wanted.”

While the family’s grief is overwhelming, they now have two missions: understanding how and why she was on the interstate after getting out of an Uber and making sure Lucy grows up knowing how much her mom loved her.

The family has set up an online fundraiser to help with funeral expenses and says any excess money they’re able to raise will be put into a savings account for Lucy’s future.

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The woman noticed a dark-colored car following as she passed the IKEA Way sign on Route 1 in Prince George’s County about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

As she got on the Outer Loop of Interstate 495, the car bumped her from behind, she told police. She continued, and the other driver tried to run her off the road.

The victim finally pulled over onto the shoulder of the Beltway near Riggs Road where a group of men robbed her at gunpoint but did not take her car before fleeing, she told police.

Maryland State Police said in a statement that they believe the victim was specifically targeted.

Earlier at about 2 a.m. in the 4800 block of Berwyn House Road in College Park — a neighborhood just off Route 1 — a woman was pulling her car into a parking space when three men approached her, according to an alert sent from campus police at nearby University of Maryland. They demanded her property but did not take her car.

They fled toward Route 1 in a black Honda Accord. 

Maryland State Police detectives are investigating the Beltway incident and want anyone with information to call the College Park Barrack at 301-345-3101.

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The crash happened in the Falls Church area near Interstate 66 and exit 49, according to the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) Program.

“Incident is contained to the shoulder of the Express Lanes, and all travel lanes are reopened,” MATOC said.

Injuries were reported from the crash, but officials didn’t immediately say how many people were injured or how seriously.

This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for updates.

Eric Lewis, of D.C., was the victim, Maryland State Police said. He was 57.

Police say the driver of a 2021 Freightliner truck fled and was later identified as Jadien Ranard Jones, 39, of Henrico, Virginia. Charges against him are pending. Police did not immediately say how he was identified.

Lewis was a loyal friend, a good worker and a high-ranking member of the Road Wolves Motorcycle Club, the owner of the company for which he worked for four years said.

Lewis worked with a tree-cutting crew that was doing work for the State Highway Administration along the Inner Loop of the Beltway near Georgia Avenue when the truck hit him at about 10:15 a.m., police said.

The crew’s work was “believed to have just begun,” police spokeswoman Elena Russo said. “They had put out their cone, setting up that area that was hopefully their safety barrier.”

Lewis died at the scene.

What to know about Maryland move-over laws

To try to prevent tragedies, Maryland has move-over laws that require drivers to change lanes or slow down “when approaching any stopped, standing, or parked vehicle displaying warning signals – including hazard warning lights, road flares, or other caution signals including traffic cones, caution signs, or non-vehicular warning signs.”

“They had that work zone set up,” Russo said. “At least the cone was there as they were trying to put that sign up, and the motorist, they didn’t slow down. This motorist didn’t move over. It should be habit by now for our motorists.”

Multiple workers were killed in a work zone crash on the Baltimore Beltway in March, leading to more enforcement around work zones in the state. Troopers have given out 500 citations and 3,000 warnings for move-over law violations so far this year.

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Lewis’ boss said he believed nothing more could have been done to prevent the crash.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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All of the students made it off the bus safely and there were no injuries, the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department said.

The crash happened just before 10 a.m. on the Outer Loop of the Beltway at Ritchie Marlboro Road, the fire department said.

A photo of the crash shows what appears to be a gray sedan smashed against the back of the bus, it’s entire hood crumpled underneath the back bumper that partially came off in the collision.

Both the car and the bus were damaged in the crash and clouds of smoke surrounded the bus.

It’s not known at this time where the bus was headed or what school the students who were on the bus attend.

Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story.

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Kerri Snead was struck while trying to cross I-495 near Allentown Road about 2:30 a.m., police said. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

Snead was 32 years old.

The driver of the car that hit Snead was injured and taken to a hospital, police said. The vehicle stayed on the scene.

All Outer Loop lanes were closed after the crash. Lanes remained closed and delays extended past Branch Avenue at 7 a.m., transit officials said.

All lanes were back open later Friday morning.

Backups brought some morning commuters to a near-halt as the crash reconstruction team investigated, and that investigation is expected to take a while.

Video shows a long line of cars and trucks backed up in the Camp Springs area.

Traffic was being detoured onto Allentown Road.

News4 saw significant backups on Branch Avenue, as well.

First4 Traffic Reporter Melissa Mollet suggested looking inside the Beltway – Branch Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue and I-295 – to avoid the worst traffic.

Stay with News4 for more on this developing story

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An SUV rear-ended a tour bus between Connecticut Avenue and Rockville Pike on Interstate 495 at around 5:45 p.m., Montgomery County Fire and EMS said. 

First responders on the scene evaluated at least four people on the tour bus, according to the fire department. All injuries are believed to be not life-threatening.

Some lanes were blocked as a result.

The cause of the crash was not immediately revealed.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

The stark warning concerns the bridge known as one of the worst traffic chokepoints in the D.C. area. The American Legion Bridge takes the Capital Beltway across Potomac River to connect Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County, Virginia.

“We do believe that it will reach the end of its functional life by the end of the decade, and so we will need to make improvements to the bridge,” said Maryland Department of Transportation policy advisor Drew Morrison.

The statements now being made about the bridge are sobering. 

“There are structural issues,” Morrison said. “Before the end of the decade, we will need to replace the American Legion Bridge.”

Maryland transportation leaders are holding meetings all this week about what a new bridge should look like, and how the Interstate 270 corridor just beyond the bridge should change. Multiple factors are being considered, including bike and pedestrian crossings, toll lanes, bus lanes and rail transportation.

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Monday night’s public meeting will be at Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School starting at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are planned in Gaithersburg and Frederick for later this week. Find information on the public meetings here.

Commuter John Hill says it’s time to get moving on some sort of solution.

“I’ve been here since ’85, and it gets worse and worse every year,” Hill said.

What about paying for a quick trip on a new bridge and I-270, like drivers do on the Express lanes in Northern Virginia?

“I don’t know how to fix it, but I can guarantee you there’s going to be a lot of folks who are not going to be happy about paying to jump on the Beltway,” commuter Raphael Mata said.

The amount of funding required for all of this is still not known, and the state acknowledges there would likely have to be some federal money available to accomplish the task.

Ayuk Etta, 40, of Lanham was standing outside a Mercedes near Route 50 when he was struck by a Honda.

The crash spilled across multiple lanes of traffic.

The 19-year-old driver of the Honda and its four passengers are expected to be OK, Maryland State Police said. Two passengers in the Mercedes were treated at a hospital and released.

Road safety experts say people should never get out of a vehicle along a stretch of road like that unless they are certain it’s safe to do so.

“If you don’t have a Jersey wall or something to get behind and you don’t feel safer outside your vehicle, sometimes staying in the vehicle is the safer option than being on foot and right close to where your vehicle is,” Maryland State Police Capt. Brian Smith said.

The state’s move over law includes all vehicles on the side of the road as of Oct. 1, 2022.

“One thing we do remind our drivers, as well, if you do become disabled, put your four-way flashers on because that will trigger the move over law for vehicles to move over if they can,” Smith said.

If they can’t, they are required to slow down.

Police believe speed contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

The driver of a Ford Mustang headed south “at a high rate of speed” and rear-ended a Kia Sedona minivan after about 4:30 p.m., Maryland State Police said. The minivan then struck a BMW. 

The three people inside the Kia were taken to Maryland Capital Region Medical Center. The front seat passenger, 77-year-old Dannel Schwartz, did not survive, police said. 

The driver of the Ford Mustang was also taken to a hospital. 

The extent of the injuries was not immediately known. 

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Lanes later reopened on I-495.

Authorities did not say if charges would be filed against the driver who caused the crash. The investigation is ongoing.

CORRECTION (Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, 8:03 p.m.): Police previously reported the deceased passenger’s name was “Daniel.”

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

The lanes would run from Springfield through Alexandria and across the Potomac River to Maryland.

“So, from the Springfield interchange where the 495 express lanes currently end across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the Maryland 210 interchange,” said Michelle Holland of VDOT.

There are two perspectives on express lanes – those who embrace a faster commute and those opposed to paying extra for it.

“Everything has turned into being a pay-to-play type of situation,” commuter Michael Keys said. “I think that we can do better than that.”

The study also looks at the possibility of extending Metro across the Wilson Bridge to the National Harbor area, which transportation leaders say the bridge could handle.

 A decision on whether or not to build the lanes is expected next year. There’s no proposed start date nor price tag for the project.

Public meetings on this study will be held this week and next in person and virtually.

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Moore said his administration will apply for billions of dollars in federal grants to get the project off the ground.

“Providing long-desired, equitable transportation solutions in the American Legion Bridge and I-270 corridors is critical to eliminating employment barriers, linking more people to high-demand jobs and stimulating local economies,” Moore said in a statement.

The governor’s plan first calls for a rebuild of the American Legion Bridge. Then the managed or toll lanes would stretch with a widening of the Beltway from the bridge to the Interstate 270 spur. Those managed lanes or toll lanes would come later.

A citizens coalition says it’s going to fight it every step of the way.

“We’re going to fight like hell, and there are a lot of people who will,” said Barbara Coufal of Citizens Against Beltway Expansion.

She said they had some success in heading off the plans during former Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration and they will continue their efforts in finding a better way.

“We had hoped that Gov. Moore would step back from the Hogan plan and look at alternatives because we know from the state’s own study that the widening the Beltway and I-270 won’t solve congestion, it will only move the bottlenecks,” Coufal said.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich released a statement praising the governor’s plans to first focus on the bridge but added local voices need to be heard.

“I am heartened by the Moore administration and MDOT acknowledgement that engaging with the communities is fundamental to the success of this project, and based on conversations thus far, I am optimistic that this project can be done without the impacts that people are concerned about,” he said. 

Included in the governor’s statement is a plan to listen to the public’s concerns at open houses in Montgomery and Frederick counties this fall and winter.

Virginia already moved forward with its expansion of the Beltway all the way up to the bridge. Construction has been going on for months.

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Ayuk Etta, 40, of Lanham was standing outside a Mercedes near Route 50 when he was struck by a Honda.

The crash spilled across multiple lanes of traffic.

The 19-year-old driver of the Honda and its four passengers are expected to be OK, Maryland State Police said. Two passengers in the Mercedes were treated at a hospital and released.

Road safety experts say people should never get out of a vehicle along a stretch of road like that unless they are certain it’s safe to do so.

“If you don’t have a Jersey wall or something to get behind and you don’t feel safer outside your vehicle, sometimes staying in the vehicle is the safer option than being on foot and right close to where your vehicle is,” Maryland State Police Capt. Brian Smith said.

The state’s move over law includes all vehicles on the side of the road as of Oct. 1, 2022.

“One thing we do remind our drivers, as well, if you do become disabled, put your four-way flashers on because that will trigger the move over law for vehicles to move over if they can,” Smith said.

If they can’t, they are required to slow down.

Police believe speed contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

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Jayleen Hannor, 23, of Macon, Georgia, was under the influence of alcohol when he drove a white Mercedes CLS 450 southbound in the northbound lanes of Interestate 270 near Rockledge Drive shortly before midnight, Maryland State Police said.

Hannor then continued driving the wrong way on I-270 onto the Outer Loop of I-495 when he crashed into a Nissan Pathfinder and a Lexus SUV at exit 34, Route 355, state police said. He then got out of the SUV and ran off in the area of Connecticut Avenue.

The driver of the Nissan Pathfinder, 36-year-old Elizabeth Velez, of Pennsylvania, died, police said. Valez’s three children, ages 2, 5 and 15, and a 36-year-old passenger in the SUV were hurt and medics took all of them to hospitals.

Five adults in the Lexus were also hurt and taken to hospitals.

The current conditions of the nine who were injured are unknown at this time.

Hannor was arrested and charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol and failure to immediately return and remain at the scene of an accident involving death. He could face more charges. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

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The Outer Loop of I-495 at Connecticut Avenue was closed for hours and reopened early Wednesday morning.

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This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for more updates.

Shots fired from an SUV were reported by the victim driving a black Nissan Rogue merging onto Interstate 495 northbound from Route 4 (Exit 11) in Forestville, the Maryland State Police said in a release.

Police believe a suspect fired shots from one car into another on the on-ramp.

Chopper4 captured a video of the scene that appears to show a bullet hole in the driver’s side window of an SUV.

There were no reported injuries.

Police describe the suspects’ vehicle as a black Maserati SUV or Porsche SUV with temporary Virginia tags.

Several lanes were blocked on the Outer Loop of the Beltway during the investigation, which caused heavy traffic.

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The Inner Loop was closed at Georgetown Pike for President Joe Biden’s motorcade. Biden was bound for a campaign event in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Traffic backed up for more than five miles.

The closure lasted more than an hour. It was lifted at 5:15 p.m. and all on ramps to the Inner Loop were reopened.

The Roosevelt Bridge outbound was shut down between D.C. and Arlington. The northbound lanes of the GW Parkway were shut down between the Memorial Bridge and the Beltway. And southbound Interstate 270 was shut down at the Beltway.

Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass tweeted about being caught in the traffic.

The Secret Service closed part of the Beltway again when the President traveled back home from the event.  That closure lasted just about 15 minutes but did lead to backups all the way to I-270.

It was not immediately clear why the motorcade caused more traffic than normal or if a rainy evening was a factor.

The U.S. Secret Service provided this statement: “The Secret Service does not specifically discuss the means and methods used to conduct protective operations in order to maintain operational security; however, the agency does work diligently with our state and local partners to make every effort possible to anticipate and minimize potentially adverse impacts to the public and local communities during a protective movement.” 

By Wednesday’s morning commute, normal traffic had resumed.

Stay with NBCWashington.com for updates.

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The trooper was inside a marked SUV that was parked in a construction zone when it was rear-ended about 4:30 a.m.

“At the time of the crash, the trooper was working an overtime assignment for the state highway and he was inside of a work zone when he was rear-ended by a Mercedes SUV,” state police spokesperson Elena Russo said.

Police said they suspect the driver who hit the trooper, a 31-year-old D.C. man, was impaired at the time of the crash.

The trooper was injured and was taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.

The resulting backup snarled morning rush hour traffic for miles, allowing crash investigators time to examine and document the scene and allowing drivers time to contemplate road safety, especially around work zones.

“Everything was there to warn motorists that a work zone was ahead,” Russo said. “You had the orange cones, the illuminated blinking arrow lights; you had the trooper’s emergency lights activated, yet it still didn’t deter this motorist from rear-ending our trooper.”

An investigation into the crash will also probe whether the driver of the SUV was impaired. 

Earlier this year in Baltimore, a driver drove into a work zone, killing six road workers.

Just last month, state officials highlighted the need for drivers to slow down around work zones. The state plans to form a work zone safety working group.

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The driver was headed west on Interstate 495 toward Interstate 395 in Springfield, Virginia, when their Kia ran off the roadway near Exit 170B at about 1:20 a.m., Virginia State Police said the initial investigation shows.

The car went over the side of a cement barrier of the elevated ramp, crashed onto railroad tracks below and caught fire, police said.

The driver was killed. Their identity was not immediately released. No one else was in the car, police said.

The Inner Loop and Outer Loop ramps to I-395 were closed following the crash and later reopened.

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) did not report any service delays or damage to the tracks. A 5:42 a.m. train moved through the area as scheduled.

No information was immediately released on the possible cause of the crash. The investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for updates.

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A pickup truck traveling west ran off the road about 3:50 a.m., hit a Jersey wall and fell onto eastbound lanes before bursting into flames, Virginia State Police said.

The pickup truck had been hauling a trailer loaded with two other vehicles, police said.

A white sedan was seen propped on a barrier between the Inner and Outer loops. A silver sedan was seen with damage.

Commuters were experiencing delays on the Outer and Inner loops of the Beltway near Van Dorn Street, but some lanes were getting by in both directions.

The two injured people were taken to a hospital, police said.

The crash remains under investigation.

Stay with News4 for updates.

Smoke billowed from the scene at 6:30 a.m., more than three hours after crews began trying to get control of the flames.

Two lanes were closed after Route 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue) in the Upper Marlboro area near Joint Base Andrews, slowing the morning rush hour commute. Rubbernecking delays on the Inner Loop stretched to MD-214 (Central Avenue), according to the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) Program.

As of 11 a.m., three left lanes of the Outer Loop were open, but the right lane and shoulder were blocked. Inner Loop delays because of rubbernecking remained.

Authorities didn’t immediately release information on any potential injuries.

Stay with NBC Washington for updates. You can livestream all NBC4 newscasts here.

Troopers responded to reports of the shooting at about 5 p.m. The Sedan was driving on Interstate 495 near Exit 52 towards the Little River Turnpike, according to the Virginia State Police.

A bullet hit one car. No one was injured, troopers said. 

The northbound travel lanes were closed Sunday while troopers searched for shell casings.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Virginia State Police at 703-803-0026 or by email at questions@vsp.virginia.gov. 

This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for more updates.

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