Tractor-trailer crash closes US 301 southbound lanes in Brandywine
A pre-dawn head-on crash shut down US 301 in Brandywine, blocking all southbound lanes and leaving two drivers hospitalized as delays spread through the corridor.
A head-on crash involving a tractor-trailer and a Toyota shut down all southbound lanes of US 301 in Brandywine Thursday, with two northbound lanes also blocked as Maryland State Police and transportation officials kept the scene under active response.
Troopers responded just after 3:30 a.m. Friday, June 5, 2026, to Crain Highway near Dyson Road in the Brandywine area, where the tractor-trailer and Toyota collided head-on. Both drivers were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment, and the roadway remained closed off through Friday morning as investigators and responders worked the scene.
MDOT SHA and MATOC issued multiple updates as the incident unfolded, warning drivers that traffic was being diverted and delays were already building on one of southern Prince George’s County’s most important travel routes. US 301 carries commuters, freight traffic and local trips through Brandywine, so the closure rippled beyond the crash site and into the surrounding roads used by residents, delivery trucks and businesses that depend on steady movement along the corridor.
The shutdown landed in a stretch of Prince George’s County that has seen deadly crashes on the same highway before. On March 9, 2026, Maryland State Police said a separate two-vehicle crash on southbound U.S. Route 301 at Brandywine Road killed two people and closed lanes for about five hours during the investigation. Friday’s wreck again forced a major interruption on the highway, underscoring how quickly an early-morning collision can stall one of the county’s key freight and commuter arteries.
With all southbound lanes blocked and two northbound lanes also shut down, the Brandywine crash created a bottleneck that pushed delays into the morning commute and complicated movement across southern Prince George’s County. The latest closure added fresh pressure on a corridor that local drivers, trucking companies and nearby neighborhoods already know can turn hazardous in an instant.
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