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A St. Mary's County teenager was killed and four other young men were injured early yesterday when their car veered off a Calvert County road and struck a utility pole, Maryland State Police said.
The teen is the fifth youth to die in a traffic fatality this year in Southern Maryland.
Some of the car's occupants told police that the driver, 21-year-old William T. Douglas of St. Mary's, had been drinking before the crash in the southern Calvert community of Solomons, state police Lt. Homer R. Rich said. Police said blood samples taken from Douglas at the hospital were being tested to determine if he was drunk. No charges have been filed.
The crash instantly killed Martin K. Herbert Jr., 16, who was riding in the front passenger seat of a 2002 Hyundai driven by Douglas. The car was headed north on H.G. Trueman Road about 3 a.m. when Douglas failed to negotiate a turn, careered into a grassy median and continued about 200 feet before hitting the pole, Rich said.
"The road bent to the right, but he went straight," Rich said. "It's very typical of someone who has been drinking and is unfamiliar with the area."
Douglas suffered lacerations and serious head injuries, police said, and was taken to St. Mary's Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman refused to disclose his condition because he had not given permission.
Three back-seat passengers -- Elvis T. Frederick, 17, Derrick Day, 18, and Tory Herbert, 18, all of St. Mary's -- were treated and released from area hospitals, authorities said.
Nearly a teenager a month has died in car crashes this year in Southern Maryland. Fifteen now have been killed in the last 18 months, a death toll almost as high as that of Montgomery and Fairfax counties combined.
A separate crash Monday afternoon in Calvert nearly pushed that toll even higher. A 13-year-old boy, whose name was not released, and Curtis L. Millsap, 18, remained in critical condition yesterday after Millsap lost control of his car on Mount Harmony Road and hit a telephone pole, police said.
The high number of fatalities has puzzled authorities and prompted increased speed enforcement in areas where the accidents occurred. Calvert Sheriff Mike Evans has compared the region's epidemic of deadly accidents to Baltimore's high homicide rate.
Ten hours after Herbert's death, Calvert commissioners allocated $8,400 to pay deputies overtime for special traffic monitoring -- including speed traps on Route 4, where 12 people have died in crashes this year. "Hopefully, it will make a difference," Evans said.
There were no witnesses to the accident in which Herbert was killed, and police were unsure yesterday where the group had been just before the accident. Crystal Herbert, the teenager's mother, said she last saw her son sometime Monday night, when he left with friends to go "joy riding."
"You get five young people together in a car, and a number of things could have happened," Rich said.
Herbert had just finished his freshman year at Great Mills High School, and he was a popular student, school officials and family members said. Assistant Principal Deborah Conrad remembered his smile and polite manners. "He would say 'yes, ma'am' and 'no, ma'am,' " she said. "He will be missed."
Herbert made many of his friends during the four years he organized programs and mentored others at the St. Mary's County Teen Center, where his death hit especially hard.
"We cried a lot today," said Gwen Bankins, the center's special events coordinator. "He was just beginning to speak out, and he was reaching his peak. . . . It's like I lost a son."
Herbert said her son dreamed of joining the military and becoming a pilot like his grandfather, who flew for the military during World War II.
The teen is the fifth youth to die in a traffic fatality this year in Southern Maryland.
Some of the car's occupants told police that the driver, 21-year-old William T. Douglas of St. Mary's, had been drinking before the crash in the southern Calvert community of Solomons, state police Lt. Homer R. Rich said. Police said blood samples taken from Douglas at the hospital were being tested to determine if he was drunk. No charges have been filed.
The crash instantly killed Martin K. Herbert Jr., 16, who was riding in the front passenger seat of a 2002 Hyundai driven by Douglas. The car was headed north on H.G. Trueman Road about 3 a.m. when Douglas failed to negotiate a turn, careered into a grassy median and continued about 200 feet before hitting the pole, Rich said.
"The road bent to the right, but he went straight," Rich said. "It's very typical of someone who has been drinking and is unfamiliar with the area."
Douglas suffered lacerations and serious head injuries, police said, and was taken to St. Mary's Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman refused to disclose his condition because he had not given permission.
Three back-seat passengers -- Elvis T. Frederick, 17, Derrick Day, 18, and Tory Herbert, 18, all of St. Mary's -- were treated and released from area hospitals, authorities said.
Nearly a teenager a month has died in car crashes this year in Southern Maryland. Fifteen now have been killed in the last 18 months, a death toll almost as high as that of Montgomery and Fairfax counties combined.
A separate crash Monday afternoon in Calvert nearly pushed that toll even higher. A 13-year-old boy, whose name was not released, and Curtis L. Millsap, 18, remained in critical condition yesterday after Millsap lost control of his car on Mount Harmony Road and hit a telephone pole, police said.
The high number of fatalities has puzzled authorities and prompted increased speed enforcement in areas where the accidents occurred. Calvert Sheriff Mike Evans has compared the region's epidemic of deadly accidents to Baltimore's high homicide rate.
Ten hours after Herbert's death, Calvert commissioners allocated $8,400 to pay deputies overtime for special traffic monitoring -- including speed traps on Route 4, where 12 people have died in crashes this year. "Hopefully, it will make a difference," Evans said.
There were no witnesses to the accident in which Herbert was killed, and police were unsure yesterday where the group had been just before the accident. Crystal Herbert, the teenager's mother, said she last saw her son sometime Monday night, when he left with friends to go "joy riding."
"You get five young people together in a car, and a number of things could have happened," Rich said.
Herbert had just finished his freshman year at Great Mills High School, and he was a popular student, school officials and family members said. Assistant Principal Deborah Conrad remembered his smile and polite manners. "He would say 'yes, ma'am' and 'no, ma'am,' " she said. "He will be missed."
Herbert made many of his friends during the four years he organized programs and mentored others at the St. Mary's County Teen Center, where his death hit especially hard.
"We cried a lot today," said Gwen Bankins, the center's special events coordinator. "He was just beginning to speak out, and he was reaching his peak. . . . It's like I lost a son."
Herbert said her son dreamed of joining the military and becoming a pilot like his grandfather, who flew for the military during World War II.
