Accidents along the Washington Beltway as trucker convoy causes chokepoints

After a slow start Sunday, the convoy of truckers who have sought to bring down the Washington, D.C. Beltway. While there was very little traffic on Sunday, there was one part where the truckers caused accidents.

WTO explained Sunday afternoon that the convoy is camping out at the Hagerstown speedway site, a dirt track about an hour north of the Beltway. Their goal was to drive the 64-plus-mile loop twice before returning to Hagerstown.

"Several accidents took place as it wrapped around the Beltway," said WTOP traffic.

The group is driving between 45 and 55 mph and following each other in one lane.

It isn't unusual to have traffic accidents on I-495, however, significantly lower traffic on Sundays also means significantly fewer accidents. The accidents did not involve the truckers, but WTOP seemed to indicate their efforts caused accidents among other drivers.

For many, the message and purpose were muddled.

“To see this, a bunch of working individuals.. that want to work without the restrictions of working… it’s a beautiful thing," said Rockville, Maryland resident Tabitha McLoughlin, whose father took part in the convoy, according to the DCist.

Some anti-convoy activists greeted the protesters with their own message of thanks:

See the traffic report below: