A 32-year-old Maryland woman, Lydia Hanson, received a nine-year prison sentence for negligent automobile manslaughter after driving drunk and killing 78-year-old Richard Snyder. The fatal crash happened on March 16, 2025, one day after Hanson was charged with DUI just a few miles away. Her blood alcohol content measured 0.34, over four times the legal limit, while she sped at 99 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Lydia Hanson was convicted on April 1 of negligent automobile manslaughter in the death of Richard Snyder, according to the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office. She also pleaded guilty to a prior DUI incident and received a one-year suspended sentence. Prosecutors noted that Hanson had been stopped for DUI the day before the crash, within a few miles of the collision site on Route 97 in Carroll County, Maryland. The office announced the sentencing details to Law & Crime on April 9. The crash occurred around 2 p.m. north of Maryland Route 26. Witnesses reported Hanson driving a Volkswagen erratically southbound at speeds up to 99 mph. She veered into the northbound lane, causing other vehicles to swerve, before striking Snyder's Chevrolet truck head-on. Snyder was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead, while Hanson was airlifted to a trauma center. She initially refused a blood test, but troopers obtained a warrant revealing her BAC of 0.34. The judge remarked, 'These are the worst facts I have seen in any of these cases. You didn't intend to kill the victim, but you did intend the behavior that led up to it. The day before you were arrested and charged, you would think that would have been a wake-up call to you, and it wasn't.' Snyder, a lifelong car enthusiast and auto body mechanic married for 52 years, left behind his wife.