Wrong-way Drivers
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Around 3:15 a.m. on the morning of May 28th, a man driving the wrong way on Interstate 10 at Boerne Stage Road collided with a tractor-trailer. The impact caused the vehicles to burst into flames. Fortunately both drivers got out of their vehicles in time to escape the flames. The wrong way driver was transported to University Hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Police are investigating whether alcohol played a role. All lanes of I-10 on the far Northwest side of San Antonio were closed until 9 a.m., forcing rush hour traffic off of the main lanes.
Driving the wrong way on freeways has been a troublesome problem ever since the 1950s when the highway system was founded. Accidents, such as this one, have lead to many studies on this persistent problem. A study performed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) showed that the vast majority of wrong-way drivers correct their mistakes before causing a crash by simply turning around and heading in the right direction. However, for unknown reasons, some drivers head straight into oncoming traffic with devastating consequences.
According to an analysis by retired FHWA traffic engineer Dennis Eckhart using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatal Accident Reporting System, on average about 350 people are killed each year nationwide in wrong-way freeway crashes. That figure includes those killed on divided highways, as well those killed due to someone driving the wrong-way on one-way traffic ways such as freeway ramps. 1,753 people were killed nationwide from 1996 to 2000 in wrong-way crashes.
The Texas Transportation Institute part of the Texas A & M System did a study called “Wrong-Way Driving on Freeways in Texas: Problems, Issues, and Countermeasures.” The study found that the most frequent origin of wrong-way incidents is the freeway exit ramp. Some statistics they found regarding wrong-way driving are:
- Crashes tend to be more severe and have a greater proportion resulting in death or serious injury than most other crash types on freeway facilities.
- Elderly drivers are over-represented compared to their proportion of the driving population and their proportion of involvement in other crashes.
- Male drivers are significantly more likely to be involved than female drivers
- Between 50 to 75 percent involve an impaired wrong-way driver who had been drinking or was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Crashes are more prevalent during non-daylight hours, particularly the early morning hours following midnight.
The researchers reviewed crashes that had specific information on wrong-way origin available and developed a list of typical problem locations. The study showed:
- Most of the collisions occurred in the inside lane (i.e., leftmost) of the correct direction. This seems logical when you consider that the wrong-way drivers are staying as far to the right as possible just like they normally would if they were going the right way.
- Several locations with left-side exit ramps produced multiple wrong-way crashes during the analysis period — this finding suggests that further countermeasures might need to be considered at locations with left-side exit ramps.
- Another problem type occurs when a one-way street, typically in a downtown area, transitions directly into a freeway section. Several locations with this configuration experienced multiple wrong-way crashes during the analysis period.
- In a few situations, staged construction freeways had wrong-way crashes during the time period when only the frontage roads were in place. The large offset distance between the frontage roads and lack of main lanes may create a confusing situation that needs to be carefully considered for appropriate countermeasures.
- The majority of crashes occurred in major urban areas, with slightly more than 60 percent in the three largest metropolitan areas — Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio
These studies highlight the importance of staying alert while driving. You never know when someone will be driving the wrong way in your lane.