One dead, two hurt after Mercedes slams school bus in Accokeek

No children were on the school bus when a Mercedes slammed into its side at Indian Head Highway and Pine Drive in Accokeek, but the crash still left one man dead, the bus driver hospitalized and a third driver treated at the scene.

Prince George’s County police said the collision happened around 7:20 a.m. Friday, May 8, 2026, as the school bus was crossing Indian Head Highway and was struck broadside. Police believe the Mercedes was traveling at a high rate of speed. Skid marks at the scene suggested the driver tried to brake before impact, but could not stop in time.

The force of the crash was severe. The bus ended up on its side, with heavy damage including a caved-in undercarriage. The Mercedes was so badly damaged it was barely recognizable afterward. Police said the Mercedes driver died in the crash.

Prince George’s County Public Schools said it was devastated by the collision and would cooperate with police while conducting its own investigation. Even with no students aboard, the scene underscored how a school-bus route can become an emergency in seconds on one of the county’s most dangerous corridors.

Indian Head Highway, also known as Route 210, has long carried a grim reputation. Safety advocates have said 12 people have died in crashes near the same location over the years, including eight people killed in a roadracing collision nearly 20 years ago. Separate reporting has said 66 people have died along Indian Head Highway since 2007, and that speed remains a leading factor in fatal crashes there.

The latest tragedy lands against a broader pattern of deadly roadway violence in Prince George’s County. County roadways recorded 93 traffic deaths in 2025, more than Montgomery County’s 43, a gap that has kept pressure on county and state officials to act on enforcement, engineering and speed management.

Residents and advocates have repeatedly pushed for more speed cameras along the corridor, or for keeping the existing cameras in place. With another fatal crash at Indian Head Highway and Pine Drive, the same questions return: whether the roadway is being designed and enforced for the speeds drivers actually use, and what changes, if any, county and state officials are prepared to make before the next morning commute turns deadly again.