Woman charged with DUI reoffends next day, kills driver at 99 mph
Lydia Hanson, aged 32, has been handed a nine-year prison term
A woman from Maryland has received her sentence for driving under the influence and causing a fatal accident just a day after she faced a DUI charge a short distance away.
The Carroll County State's Attorney's Office informed Law&Crime that Lydia Hanson, aged 32, has been handed a nine-year prison term.
She was found guilty on April 1 of negligent vehicular manslaughter, resulting in the death of 78-year-old Richard Snyder.
Hanson was also found guilty for a prior DUI offense and has a one-year jail sentence that has been suspended.
On March 16, 2025, Hanson was operating a Volkswagen heading south on Route 97, as Snyder traveled north in his Chevrolet truck, the prosecuting agency recalled.
Several people reportedly observed Hanson "driving erratically" at speeds reaching 99 mph.
She unexpectedly veered into the northbound lane, prompting several cars to "swerve to avoid a collision" with her vehicle. Hanson then collided "head-on" with Snyder's truck.
Responding to the accident scene north of Maryland Route 26 around 2 p.m., Maryland State Police officers reported at the time.
Snyder was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Hanson was airlifted to a regional trauma center. As per the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office, she "refused to undergo a blood alcohol test."
However, troopers acquired a warrant for the test, and after collecting and examining her blood, they found her blood alcohol concentration was 0.34, which is over four times the legal limit.
Investigators also concluded that she was traveling at 99 mph in a 55 mph zone at the time of the crash.
"Amazingly, the defendant had been stopped for DUI just one day before and only a few miles from where this accident took place," prosecutors stated.
The judge was openly critical of Hanson's actions.
"These facts are the most serious I have seen in any such cases," he remarked. "While you may not have intended to take a life, you did choose to engage in the behavior leading to it. Being arrested and charged the day before should have been a wake-up call for you, and it clearly wasn't."
Snyder's obituary describes him as "a lifelong car devotee, skilled in auto body and fender work" who "could dismantle and reconstruct a whole car, yet couldn't quite figure out how to use a remote to watch his cherished car shows on TV."
He is survived by his wife, to whom he had been married for 52 years.