state police closed off the ramp from the jfx to the beltway enter loop trying to put together what led to the death of a 5-year-old. the same thing happened in several other places today as three others have died since yesterday. one person in this bus crash and two in a car crash. despite that, traffic deaths in maryland are actually down. >> any death or any loss of life is one to many but it's at least optimistic to see that the numbers going down. >> reporter: overall traffic deaths are at their lowest levels in 50 years. the latest figures show that in 2010 deaths were below 500 people. that's a 10% drop from 2009. nationwide traffic deaths dropped from more than 34,000 to under 33,000, a 2.9% drop and the lowest since 1949. overall the roads have been

sayer for everybody but motorcyclists and pedestrians that's shown significant increases in number of deaths. >> seeing more enforcement. safer cars, certainly despite the fact that people are driving more than ever as far as the period 46 billion miles i think over that period. again we are seeing safer cars, less impaired driving. and better enforcement. all that contributes to the reduction. >> reporter: there have been changes in maryland law over the past year. it has played a big part in lowering the death totals. the hated speed cameras have helped change driver behavior. abc 2news. >> more on what he just said. several states are joining ours in banning handheld cell phones starts on january 1st nevada

will prohibit texting and handheld devices, , in oregon only emergency responders, tow truck drivers and utility crowo crews will be able to talk onto phone while driving. the law is a secondary offense. police have can pull you over if you are texting while you drive. new tonight a grand jury has indicted a man accused of killing his estranged wife and accept son. curtis loathes is lopez is a accused of stabbing and beating the woman to death. her body was found in october and six days later they found the body of her 11 -year-old son william in the woods. they believe the boy was beaten a baseball bat. lopez was arrested in north carolina. tonight crews working to fix this mess.

it's a 24-inch natural gas main break near pen station. it happened just after one. the investigators say the crew working in the area struck the high pressure main, crews are working to shut off the gas and repair the main. hazmat crews are also on the scene. nobody was hurt. traffic as we move closes to the new year the governor looking back on how the state did this year. he said he is grateful that baltimore's murder rate has dropped over the years. the number of murders is at 1950 with just days left in the year. the governor look add head to next year says the number one priority will be to create jobs and he hopes to improve public education. this honda recall trumped the one you heard about earlier this month. there is concern about faultly

irbags. it's caused a dozen injuries and one death. it involves older model models. beer with caffeine, that's buzz light year's away in california because the state is banning all beer with caffeine. you won't be able to buy it off the store shelves because the law is in response to several incidents where drinkers, some underage were in the hospital for drinking beer with caffeine. bp may soon be hit with criminal charges for the gulf oil spill. prosecute, are considering charges several. the several.

have you accidentally sent e-mails to the wrong people? how about to eight million wrong people. that's what happened to the new york times. it's a mistake that left a phones of the third largest newspaper in the country ringing off the hook. >> reporter: it was supposed to be sent to only 300 people but with the click a mouse it went out to millions. on wednesday the new york times mistakenly sent a massey mail to 8.6 asking them to reconsider their canceled subscriptions. subscriber was offered a deal, renew at half the normal rate. some of the people who got the e-mail have long ago dropped their subscriptions. the blunder created an up roar on social media with many wonder figure the mistake was the work of hackers. the times said it didn't send out the e-mail but hours later

they apologized admitting it was at fault. a spokeswoman for the paper acknowledged that there had been no security problems. it was the result of human error. an employee sent it to a vast mass marketing list. oops. >> you ever notice all the people that have a phone and you think verizon is making a mint? now the largest cell phone company is introducing a two dollar fee for every verizon bill payment you makeover the phone. they call it a convenience fee. its going to start on january the 15th. the fee will not apply to electronic check payments or to automatic credit card payments set especially through their auto pay system >> had a few snow shores. mainly north of the baltimore area but up through central hartford, authority and --

through celic. burst of snow flurries, didn't add up to much and we are tracking another batch in western maryland. maybe a few more this evening. won't add up to anything. testimonies in to the mid-30s now. it's a chilly, wintery day with warmer air just south of us. creeping up into easton and washington. things warm up over the next few hours. 30s tonight. cloudy and still that chance for a if you flurries. more on the weekend forecast, the new year coming up. >> wintertime fun ends with tragedy for three teens. how it took a dangerous turn. that's coming up. and when things go wrong you can count on people reaching for control phones to take video. why investigators say its helping them solve mysteries. and a look back at our biggest sports headline of the year.

. well face it, cameras are everywhere. i'm staring at one right now. they have surveillance cameras, cell phone, crash investigators say that's really a good thing. lisa stark has a rare behind the scenes look inside the federal lab where all the videos help solve all those mysteries. >> reporter: when disaster tribes in the air and on the ground. >> whoa! >> reporter: people grab their cameras and what they capture is proving important to investigators. >> it can sometimes be the key. >> reporter: on a rare tour of the national transportation safety board video lab we saw shaky raw footage from cameras spun into gold to help prevent future accidents.

home video caught the engines coming off this tanker. >> we can seat engine separate and fly up. >> reporter: without the video they may have thought an explosion caused the crash. knows the engines came off helped them pinpoint metal fatigue . it's not just in the air. investigators used image from a camera at an aquorum to show a tourist boat was hiding in a tug boat blind spot. >> is he bearing down without knowing it. correct. >> and you were able to see that. >> yes. >> reporter: sound to. an incident in san diego, espieding coast guard vessel that smashed into a pleasure boat and killed a little boy. the sound of the boat's engines proved. >> speed to be approximately 43 miles an hour. >> reporter: is that fast?

>> it's to fast for conditions. >> reporter: and this scary flight was shot by a tourist one year before a deadly accident. with the same pilot, proving he was reckless. >> turned out to be deadly. >> reporter: today there are cameras everywhere. investigators are relying on them more than ever to help solve their toughest cases. lisa stark. >> now, maryland's most popular radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weather rate. >> all right. just a bit of a breeze out there now. a fairly quiet winter day. chill in the air. 37 degrees despite the sun and conditions staying clear. earlier today not so much the case. we had a few flurries across the area and caught a little bit of that on our abc2 weatherbug camera. belaire you picked up just a

few flying flakes here. there you go. if you blink you miss them. maryland's most powerful radar clear now. we expect it to stay so. temperature wise in the 30s to low 40s depending where you are in the state. there is about a ten degree spread. so, again we have stayed on the cold side of this front at boundary. its been a mildler area. up into the low 40s. you know it's just depending where you were. satellite pictures in the central part of the state. nothing in here right now. we have another little wave coming through and if this holds together and probably won't all that well but it could produce a few more flurries later tonight. again as we look out ahead of

the next 12 to 24 hours we aren't seeing much. this disturbance will go northward overnight and behind it not a lot new, in some mildler air. you will notice that. mildler air underneath the system and that will let us get there to the 50s for the next few days. we are looking at temperatures running above average. mild set up as we end the year and start the year before temperatures drop again into next week. our trend showing maybe a flurry or two and then we clear out tomorrow. increasing clouds tomorrow afternoon. a brief shot, brief potential for rain source late tomorrow evening . then we are clear for saturday. smooth sailing in new year's, into sunday. things looking good through the new year's eve weekend. tomorrow night 42, clouds on the increase. few passing showers late. then overall the outlook here will go with 52 or so through the day tomorrow.

42 or so -- graphics are out of order. chilly, chance for rain. there is the air temperatures for you. 52 tomorrow. 53 for saturday and as we look ahead here the -- the trend is really quite nice through the first day of 2012. next week don't get to used to this because next week things get quite a bit colder toward news and wednesday. >> how many texts did you get about it snowing? >> a couple. they were like -- as soon as they cropped up they were done. very brief shot. >> our best local sports stories of the year. featuring something new, race cars, something borrowed, a pennet race from tampa bay and blue, the blue feeling when our hearts broke over the news of a loved orioles. >> he pitched 15 years, won the cy young award in 1979. he was so loved by his team they was the last orioles to

pitch in memorial stadium in 1991. he became the top executive. mike flanagan was 59. our 4th biggest story was a good-bye of a different kind. gary williams stepped down as head coach of the men's basketball team. >> this is my decision. its been a decision i have thought about for a while. i just like to thank first of all -- better hold that. that may not be the last time that happens. i want to thank the students -- >> through 22 years he won more games than any coach in terp history. he won in 2002. he is staying on at college park as the assistant athletic director. what many call the greatest night of regular season play is

our number three story. the red sox defeat the orioles to keep their seasonna live. boston led and were one strike from winning when the orioles tied it up. three pitches later robert helped end the red sox postseason dreams. even race manager joe madden sent a tweet thanking the orioles for the win. cars zipping at 180-milance hour on downtown baltimore streets is the number two story. the first grande prix drew tens of thousands of people. the city spent millions to get the downtown streets ready for the two mile 13 turn course. many say the race wasn't worth the cost or the convenience but indy car officials called it one of the best venues in the country. our best story of the year a shift in the ravens, steelers

rivalry after the steelers beat the ravens in the playoffs in january it felt like the ravens would never get past pittsburgh but the season started the league's greatest rivalry when the ravens blew out the steelers. it gave us a reason to smile. then a 92-yard drive and hines field gave ravens fans reason to believe. it was capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass. the win gave them a season sweep of the steelers and hope for fans that they would ring in the new year with a home playoff game. if you are looking for more on the top stories check out the best of 2011 page. go to the website and the feature story section. we have the most powerful photographs, the most searched person and remembers those we lost in 2011.

medical device like ps and forceps go from body to body over and over but are they safe? even if they are sterile? how the fda is working to make you're aren't exposed to other people's body fluids. a new year, a new rear. some of the exercise that will give you a better bum for the year.

. the drug avastin when treats women with ovarian cancer can slow tumor growth but not clear if it may improve

life expectancy. it hasn't been approved by the fda yet. last month the fda withdrew approval for breast cancer because it didn't extend life and can have serious side effects the drug. we use medical devices, are they safe? are their risks of reusing them? devices clamps and forceps, used over and over. so are endoscopes, letting doctors see inside your body. they get reprocessed through high level cleans. some report being exposed to blood and body fluids and tissue from other people so the fda is working to health care provider to set standards. a new california law set to go into effect next year mandating proper recovery for athlete was head injuries. public high school or younger

must bench athletes suspected of having head injuries. the player won't be able to go back until they are cleared by a doctor. it goes into effect january 1st. abc 2news.com working with you right now with a complete concussion resource guide. it's a great place for parents and coaches and athletes to learn about the warning signs of concussions and how to learn to play safe. just go to abc 2news.com/concussion. as we head in to the new year many people make resolutions, we are going to loose weight and get fit. a trainer shows us exercises to your rear in shape and benefit your your health. there are exercise that build overall strength and benefit the back side. >> they benefit the large muscle groups which is the rear

end, the thighs, hamstrings and they get the heart rate up and that's when you have burned the most. that's why is it's so important. >> reporter: you know he is famous because he has one name. you can go full body push ups, using a lower body strength and jumping the ropes at the same time. there you go. a maine father said he put the 20-month-old in the bed two weeks ago and hasn't seen her since. the search today for her baby and why the mother says the father's story doesn't add up. and a butter ball turkey plant raided. why it's in hot seat for why they are using -- what they are doing to turkeys and the butter ball plant. that story coming up.

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. now abc 2news at 5:30.

>> a fun outing turns dangerous for a group of teens. the story coming up. how a bad decision landed all three of them in the hospital. a maine father said he put his daughter to bed two weeks ago and that's the last time he saw her. why the mother is crying foul. and in 2011 we said good- bye to one of the most watched shows and hello to one of the catchiest phrases a look at the top enter stainment news. snootily teens nursing burn injuries after a tragic accident in rosedale. it happened last night in a house in the 6,000 block of shady spring avenue. we explain the details on how they were hurt. >> reporter: it started as a cam 7 fire of sorts for the group but when they couldn't get it to burn as fast as they wanted they added gas. according to the fire department the teens had twigs they were trying to light in a barbecue grill. they added gto