Ice and snow to blame for accident; 30 others reported

Ice and snow-covered roads are to blame for an accident that injured a Columbia woman Wednesday morning on Brown Station Road, according to a news release from the Columbia Police Department.

Around 9 a.m. Tamara M. Hutchen, 41, of Columbia, was driving a Buick east on Brown Station Road with two passengers, Columbia police reported.

According to police, Hutchen lost control of her vehicle, crossed the center line and slammed into the passenger side of an oncoming Toyota Corolla driven by Brice E. Moeller, 53, of Columbia.

One passenger in Hutchen's vehicle, 51-year-old Octavia C. Scott, was removed from the Buick by Columbia Fire Department before being taken to University Hospital. Her injuries were believed to be nonlife threatening.

Moeller, Hutchen and her second passenger, Christopher Hutchen, 20, were  not injured.

It was one of 31 accidents Columbia police responded to Wednesday between 8 a.m. and noon. The bulk of these accidents were reported before 11 a.m. with only five afterward, police reported.