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Reid's wife, daughter hospitalized after accident
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Craig Moran/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Landra Reid, left, accompanied her husband, Sen. Harry Reid, Monday when he filed to run for a fifth term in the U.S. Senate. Landra Reid was seriously injured in an auto accident Thursday in Fairfax County, Va. The couple's daughter, Lana Barringer, was also hurt. » Buy this photo
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STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Updated: Mar. 12, 2010 | 1:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid's wife was listed in serious condition at a suburban Virginia hospital Thursday night after she and her daughter were involved in an auto accident on a major highway.
The Honda Odyssey in which Landra Reid and daughter, Lana Barringer, were riding was rear-ended and crushed by a tractor-trailer in heavy traffic about 15 miles south of Washington shortly after 1 p.m.
Landra Reid, 69, suffered a broken nose, broken back and broken neck and was listed in serious condition, said Jon Summers, a spokesman for the senator.
"The initial prognosis is that she will not need surgery, but doctors will be keeping an eye on her," Summers said in an e-mail. Earlier, Summers had said she was conscious and could feel her extremities.
Barringer, 49, had a neck injury and facial lacerations. She was expected to be released from the hospital Thursday night, Summers said.
The women, who were wearing seat belts, were taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., after the crash.
After learning of the accident around 2:15 p.m., Harry Reid went to the hospital, then returned to the Senate for a health care meeting before going back to the hospital for the night, Summers said.
President Barack Obama called the senator Thursday evening to check on the family, Summers said.
Virginia State Police said the accident occurred on Interstate 95 in Fairfax County, about a quarter mile south of the Fairfax County Parkway. The stretch of I-95 , about two miles outside the Washington Beltway, is an always busy and complex thoroughfare.
Barringer was driving the 2005 Odyssey north in stop-and-go traffic, police said. As she began braking, the Odyssey was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer loaded with rolls of plastic, state police said.
The Odyssey, in turn, struck a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was forced into the next lane, where it hit a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt.
Corinne Geller, a state police spokeswoman, said the Odyssey was crushed on both ends.
The drivers of the Cherokee and Cobalt were taken by ambulance to Fairfax Hospital. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening, police said.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified as Alan W. Snader of Ohio, was not hurt. He was charged with reckless driving.
Barringer, the Reids' oldest child and only daughter -- the Reids have four sons -- lives in McLean, Va. She is married to Steven Barringer, a Washington lawyer and lobbyist, and they have three children. Lana Barringer has been a schoolteacher and has listed herself as a housewife in federal campaign contribution records.
Harry Reid, 70, and Landra Reid, who have a condo in Washington, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year.
Harry Reid "appreciates the support he and his family are receiving from Nevadans and his colleagues in the Senate," Summers said.
Two of Reid's Republican challengers in this year's election issued get-well statements.
Sue Lowden said she and her husband, Paul, "wish Landra and Lana well after learning that the Reid family members were involved in a car accident this afternoon. We wish them a speedy and full recovery."
Lowden's campaign said late Thursday it was pulling its TV and radio ads through the weekend "out of respect."
"This is terrible news," Danny Tarkanian said. "The entire Tarkanian family extends our thoughts and prayers to Sen. Reid's family for the rapid recovery of his wife and daughter."
Landra Reid's mother, Ruth Gould, was killed in a car accident in Las Vegas in 1975. Landra Reid was in the car and hospitalized after the crash.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
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