NORTH BEACH — A 64-year-old box truck driver died and a 19-year-old North Beach woman was hurt Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5, when the truck crossed the center line of Bayside Road and hit her SUV head-on, the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office said.
The truck’s driver, Chester McDonald of Middle River, may have had a medical emergency before the collision, according to the sheriff’s office. That finding is preliminary, and the crash remains under investigation by the office’s Crash Reconstruction Team.
Patrol Bureau deputies were called at about 3:12 p.m. to the 8700 block of Bayside Road for a serious crash with injuries, according to a sheriff’s office release issued Sunday, Nov. 8.
Investigators said McDonald was driving a 2025 International commercial box truck south on Bayside Road when it crossed into the northbound lane and struck a Chevrolet Equinox driven by Kylie Gasch, 19, of North Beach.
Both drivers were taken to CalvertHealth Medical Center in Prince Frederick. McDonald was pronounced dead at the hospital. Gasch was treated for injuries the sheriff’s office described as not life-threatening.
The release did not say what kind of medical emergency investigators suspect, who owned the truck or where it was headed. It also did not say how long Bayside Road was closed after the crash.
A familiar stretch of road
Bayside Road, Maryland Route 261, is the main road through North Beach and Chesapeake Beach along the bay shore, carrying local traffic, commuters and delivery trucks through the twin towns.
The corridor has seen other deadly crashes in recent years. In September 2023, a pedestrian was killed on Bayside Road near Research Lane in Chesapeake Beach. In February 2024, a man died and a woman was critically injured when a falling tree struck their vehicle at Bayside Road and 13th Street.
Less than two weeks before Thursday’s crash, the Chronicle reported that a Shady Side man, 61, was killed in a head-on crash in Lothian, just over the line in southern Anne Arundel County.
Statewide, road deaths have been falling. Maryland recorded 480 traffic deaths in 2025, the first year below 500 since 2014. Through Sept. 7 of this year, 290 people had died on Maryland roads, down from 332 at the same point in 2025, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation.
Investigators seek witnesses
The sheriff’s office has not announced any charges, and its preliminary account places the truck in the wrong lane. The possible medical emergency is one piece of what the Crash Reconstruction Team will try to confirm as it finishes its work.
DFC M. Daily of the Crash Reconstruction Team is leading the investigation. Anyone who saw the crash or the events leading up to it is asked to call him at 410-535-2800 or email Michael.Daily@calvertcountymd.gov, referencing case No. 26-94454.
