Each year in the United States, wrong-way crashes result in 400 to 500 deaths according to federal highway administrators.
As Connecticut state Rep. Quentin Williams was driving home from the governor's inauguration ball last month, he was struck head-on by a driver who had entered the highway using a ramp going in the wrong direction, killing both Williams and the driver.
A $2.6 million pilot program in Massachusetts seeks to discourage wayward drivers by installing wrong-way vehicle detection systems at highway ramps. If the driver continues despite the warning system, state police receive a notice of a possible wrong-way driver. The highway operations center is also notified so they can immediately activate message boards on the roadway to let other motorists know someone might be driving in the wrong direction toward them.
Older drivers, younger inexperienced drivers and impaired drivers — including those under the influence of alcohol — tend to be more at risk of initiating wrong-way crashes, according to researchers. Last July, a crash involving a wrong-way car on an interstate in northern Illinois left seven people dead, including five children. In November, five people, including two children, were killed in Alabama when their car entered the highway going the wrong way and hit an 18-wheeler.Last year, Kentucky received a $5 million federal grant to help prevent wrong-way crashes on interstates.
Initially, the pilot program was intended to be a multi-year effort, but the system has proven so successful, officials said the state will work to expand it quickly, Gulliver said.
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