Senate leader Reid’s wife suffers broken neck, back in car crash; daughter also injured

Sen. Reid’s wife hospitalized after serious crash

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was at his wife’s side in a Virginia hospital Friday as she was treated for a broken neck and back suffered in a traffic accident that also injured their daughter, officials said.

A tractor-trailer rear-ended the minivan carrying Landra Reid, 69, and her daughter, Lana Barringer, 49, on an interstate in the Washington suburbs Thursday, officials said. They were taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va.

Reid aides said Mrs. Reid remained in serious condition Friday but was not expected to require surgery. Barringer was released Thursday night, hospital spokesman Tony Raker said.

“Mrs. Reid has a broken nose, broken back and broken neck,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley said in a statement. “Lana has a neck injury and facial lacerations.” Manley said Mrs. Reid could feel her extremities.

Virginia State Police said Mrs. Reid and her daughter were traveling northbound on I-95 in stop-and-go traffic when their Honda Odyssey was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer loaded with rolls of plastic. The impact forced the Reid family’s minivan to rear-end a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which in turn struck a Chevrolet Cobalt.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Alan W. Snader, 59, of Ohio, was charged with reckless driving, police said. He was not injured. All involved were wearing seat belts, police said.

Reid, D-Nev., went to the hospital after being notified of the accident and returned to Capitol Hill for a meeting on efforts to pass health care legislation. He went back to the hospital Thursday evening, left at midnight so his wife could rest, and returned Friday morning, said Reid spokesman Jon Summers.

Reid, 70, met Landra while they were attending Basic High School in Henderson, Nev. They were married in 1959.