A fatal three-vehicle collision on Route 32 near the Carroll County line Thursday has reinvigorated support for fixing a stretch of road that nearby residents have long described as dangerous.

Howard County Executive Kenneth Ulman said Friday he had called Gov. Martin O’Malley within hours after the fatal crash to press for immediate improvements along the road, which is state-owned and maintained.

“This recent tragedy means that we’ve got to accelerate improvements as quickly as possible,” Ulman said.  “I told him (O’Malley) that this was an enormous priority of mine and the community’s.” He added that O’Malley seemed receptive to his requests.

Brian Edgar Emery, 49, was stopped in his car on northbound Route 32, waiting to make a left turn onto Amberwoods Way shortly before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, when he was struck from behind by a Chevrolet Express Van, according to police.

Emery’s car was knocked across the double line, where it was hit by a southbound Dodge pickup truck, police said.

Emery, of the 1200 block of Forest Creek Court, in Sykesville, was pronounced dead on the scene.

The driver of the van, identified by police as Thomas Donald Cory, 55, of Marriottsville, was not injured. The driver of the pickup truck, identified by police as Robert Lewis Wyscarver, 40, of Ellicott City, was taken to Howard County General Hospital with minor injuries.

Police are still investigating the accident, they said, and charges are pending.

Sykesville residents for months have complained about safety issues on the stretch of Route 32 between Route 99 and the Carroll County border. In July, they met with state highway officials and local representatives to air their complaints.

The residents’ concerns were heightened following a June 23 crash at the intersection of Route 32 and River Road that killed 13-year-old Vincent Dasung Woodward and his mother, Kyong Hae “Jennifer” Kim.

State Highway Administration officials said they would inspect the intersections of Route 32 and River Road and Route 32 and Amberwoods Way to see if there were any immediate changes that could be made to improve safety. More detailed traffic studies of the two areas were planned for September.

On Friday, Howard Blackman, a resident of the Amberwoods Community, said he went to the scene of the collision after being alerted by a neighbor, and was shocked.

“I just had a real sick feeling in my stomach,” he said. “I’m not surprised this happened because we know how dangerous this road can be.”

Blackman, who started the Web site www.makeroute32safe.com to lobby for improvements to the road, said he would be meeting over the weekend with several other residents in the community to plan a course of action. He said he planned to rally about 200 supporters to go to an informational meeting next Thursday, to be held in Howard County by the State Highway Administration, to demand improvements to the road.

Blackman said the volume of cars on Route 32 is excessive. Among other improvements, he said the state needs to restripe the road creating dedicated left-turn lanes, “which probably would have prevented last night’s accident.”

He also wants traffic lights installed at Route 32 intersections with Amberwoods Way, River Road and Day Road, he said.

Ulman said that a planned $1.5 million resurfacing of Route 32, which would have included such safety measures as better demarcation of lanes, was recently put on hold because of state budget cuts. He said he would be willing to use county money for making improvements along the road if state funding was not available.

— Pete Pichaske contributed to this article.

This story has been updated.

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