The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) concluded from a recent study regarding wrong-way incidents on its roads that showed over the past ten years there were 245 wrong way collisions in Arizona, 91 of which were fatal, that a system is required to mitigate the propensity of these incidents.
Yuma sector DPS Sergeant Brian Turner said, “We’ve seen a large increase in wrong-way collisions on state highways,” a generalized statement backed up by ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel: “25% of wrong way crashes are fatal compared to 1% of all crashes so there’s a higher probability of death that’s why we are taking this seriously.”
ADOT is now testing a system on I-17 in Phoenix to detect a wrong-way driver and alert law enforcement. The system takes advantage of existing sensors meant to track traffic flow, reworking the sensors’ purpose to detect when a driver is heading in the wrong direction.
Measures such as larger wrong-way signs and arrows on the road pointing in the correct travel direction have already been taken, but ADOT officials are adamant that more is required to truly solve the issue. Many drivers that go the wrong way are impaired, causing further issues; therefore, a law enforcement methodology is considered important to ssuage possible dangers to other drivers.
Turner says the new technology will be helpful, and that if the results of the prototype are good, project expansion is a real possibility.
“We have to test it for a year and see how it does and hopefully expand that into areas like the Yuma area,” Nintzel said. ADOT says that the new system will be in development this coming year.
