Imagine it’s late at night, and you’ve taken your exit off the highway, thinking you’re about to safely arrive home. One of the last things you want to see? A pair of headlights driving at you head on. Unfortunately, situations like this happen each year, leading to over 500 fatalities annually (AAA).
Unfortunately, the number of wrong-way driving crashes has increased in recent years, making their prevention crucial to keeping our roadways safe — especially given the deadly nature of the crash type. In fact, wrong-way collisions have a fatality rate twelve times higher than all other collisions, according to Caltrans.
Why Does Wrong-Way Driving Occur?
There are a variety of factors that play into wrong-way driving, and it can sometimes vary from community to community. Two of the top cited factors across the board? Alcohol-impairment and age (AAA). While some factors can be tackled through roadway intervention measures, others are based in driver behavior, making them harder to pinpoint and address. These include:
- Visibility
- Design
- Impaired Drivers
- Older Drivers
- Passengerless Drivers
- Improperly Licensed Drivers
Pro tip: For additional insights into how these contributing factors impact the occurrence of wrong-way driving, check out our white paper: Mitigating Wrong-Way Driving: Proven Approaches.
What Are the Best Measures to Mitigate Wrong-Way Driving?
Depending on layout of your community’s wrong-way problem spots and factors that play into the prevalence of wrong-way driving, the measures that best suit your roadways can vary. For example, while pavement markings can provide a suitable enhancement for a particularly wrong-way prone ramp, they might not work as well at locations with a sharp curve where visibility of the markings on the road would be difficult to see. Or, perhaps one location experiences a higher volume of wrong-way entries than others in the area, making a full system with driver detection and TMC alerts a more valuable choice than simply opting for signage.
No matter what your unique concern is, it’s possible (and crucial!) to find countermeasures that best suit the needs of your roadway.
1. Signs
Well-placed signage can provide effective direction to reduce confusion and better guide traffic around wrong-way hotspots — and, it’s one of the most cost-effective options. Even if you have signage already established, it’s often worth evaluating the effectiveness of where your signs are set up, as signage placed over 200 feet from a wrong-way entry point can heighten the odds of a driver taking a wrong turn by three to five times as much (TRB). Oversized signs and signage placed close to common entry points and low to the ground can improve visibility, which is especially valuable both at night and for older drivers.
Additionally, signs can be enhanced to further improve visibility. Flashing, LED-embedded signage is visible up to a mile away and illuminated legends can increase sign legibility distance by as much as 100% — and up to 267% when combined with flashing, edge-lit enhancements (Texas A&M TTI). Not only do these enhancements drastically improve nighttime visibility, they’re also a valuable tool for adverse weather like rain and fog, as well as at locations that struggle with obstructed visibility.
2. Pavement Markings
3. Detection Systems
On ramps and roadways with a higher risk of wrong-way entry, boilerplate guidance on wrong-way mitigation doesn't always cut it. When a more comprehensive approach is needed, agencies often turn to more robust systems — particularly ones that can detect drivers, encourage prompt self-correction and even notify key stakeholders in the event that drivers do not turn around. These systems take awareness in wrong-way situations to the next level, with the ability to attempt to stop drivers from continuing the wrong-way by flashing LED-enhanced signage, even after they’ve already turned past initial measures.
Don’t think that your ramp or roadway layout is equipped for a full detection system? Many systems can be customized to fit any layout — even unique ones, ensuring that wrong-way safety can be addressed at all necessary locations. And, these systems can leverage various detection types to help communities find the right fit for their needs.
4. Connectivity
In the age of technological advancements, it’s no surprise that smart enhancements have made their way into traffic safety. Fortunately, this is beneficial for communities struggling with wrong-way driving, as it allows agencies to optimize uptime of connected measures and act quickly in the event of a wrong-way driver.
Smart city platforms in particular are designed to connect with Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS), giving officials the ability to remotely monitor and manage. If a system’s LED enhancements are down or a wrong-way driver triggers the system’s detection, officials can be notified in real-time to act as quickly as possible. Plus, many platforms offer livestreaming, video and still image capture to record events for future playback and reference, making it easier for agencies to confirm if a wrong-way driver has turned around.
Pro tip: Interested in connectivity but not opting for a full system at the moment? Limited connectivity is available through BlinkLink®, TAPCO’s smart city platform, with signage equipped with LED enhancements and detection to keep track of uptime.
5. Geometric Design
Perhaps one of the more costly and time-consuming measures to address wrong-way driving, adjusting geometric design can be well worth the hassle if the wrong-way risk is great enough. A full overhaul isn’t always necessary or possible — especially in cases where the interchange design is prone to wrong-way driving — but minor geometric changes can provide drastic improvements to reduce driver confusion and mitigate the occurrence of wrong-way driving. From removing visual obstructions to narrowing exit ramp throats, there are a variety of minor design changes agencies can make to reduce wrong-way driving risk.
How Do I Get Started?
Ready to put together a plan to tackle your wrong-way concerns? To develop your wrong-way strategy, it’s important to first evaluate the severity of wrong-way driving in your community, the needs of your roadways and the resources currently available to you. If you’re unsure of where to start, TAPCO experts are available to help. In fact, we can provide dedicated assistance with assessing wrong-way problem spots to recommend a customized treatment, while considering factors such as budget and resources. Get in touch with us today to chat through your wrong-way concerns.