How can drivers avoid wrong-way driving?

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3/1/2011
Steve Lombardi
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How can drivers avoid wrong-way driving?

Today we are going to refocus our attention the wrong-way driver heading towards your car as you drive along the interstate highway. Here in Iowa it could be I-35, or I-80 or I-29 or I-380; it could be any of these and the thing that scares me most about reading this report is it could be me or my my loved ones. So let us read the first from Woodbury County and appears to be a wrong-way interstate highway accident. That's surprising because I have seen those in Iowa over the past several years after never having heard of one occurring. The Lombardi Law Firm site has an entire wrong-way accident section dedicated to the interstate highways in Iowa. If you would like to see the common threads with this type of accident I'd suggest you follow this link and perhaps I'll add them to the end of this analysis.

In the Woodbury I-29 collision we have two young drivers, 17 and 23 from Salix and Sioux City, Iowa driving in the northbound lanes of I-29 at about the 131 mile marker when the crash occurred. Mary Katherine Hughes the younger of the two driving a 2003 Oldsmobile Alero is said to have died. The other driver, Ryan D. Marx is said to have been injured and was taken to Mercy Hospital. The accident happened at 22:32, military time for 10:32 p.m. This may be one of those cases where the cause is inexperience. Let us hope it wasn't alcohol related. The police report has vehicle 1, Hughes traveling the wrong-way, the wrong direction in her Alero, which is no match for the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. In these types of cases, wrong-way drivers, liability should be clearly in favor or Marx and against the wrong-way driver.

Because of the significance of this case I'll post it alone and include the wrong-way driving findings I've made through reading over a thousand news stories about wrong-way drivers. And if you wish to read about wrong-way crashes follow this link; I know when these ‘ghost drivers' first came across my radar screen I was shocked; now after several years of reading about them I've got the causes down and realize how many there are, a lot more than most people realize, and how to stop more than 75% of them. The Des Moines Register is reporting on this story. Link.

Minimal Reports

A crash occurred in Woodbury County on February 21, 2011

VEH 1 WAS TRAVELING WRONG DIRECTION (SB) ON I-29 IN NB LANE VEH 1 COLLIDED HEAD ON WITH VEH 2 ON I-29 NB NEAR 131 MM SEATBELT USE UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME ACC STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION ISP ASSISTED BY WOODBURY CO SO, IOWA DOT, MERCY AIR CARE, SLOAN AND SALIX FIRE & EMS, SIOUXLAND PARAMEDICS

Category: Wrong-way Interstate and Highway Collisions in Iowa

Labels: attorney collisions death highway I-235 I-35 I-380 I-80 injury Interstate Iowa State Patrol lawyer Lombardi negligence reports safety wrong-way wrong-way collisions

Wrong-way drivers are causing deaths in America’s interstate highway system all across the United States. Wrong-way collisions can have several causes and there are things we can do to educate ourselves from being involved in one. With two vehicles traveling towards one another at 70 mph death is almost certain. So what can you do to avoid being in one?

For several months I’ve collected news items on wrong-way collisions and have analyzed where, when and how they occurred. There have been so many that I can only cover the month of July for 2009 and that is enough to provide us with 70 separate wrong-way collisions from hundreds of news stories. From these news reported collisions that here are the general causes and how we can avoid being one of those who die from a wrong-way driver coming towards us at 50 to 70 mph.

About wrong-way drivers

Wrong way drivers present an obvious danger to all motorists on our highways.

The most recent available crash statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates wrong way drivers are involved in 1.5 percent of all fatal crashes.

Drivers who travel the wrong way on one way highways generally fall into one of our different categories:

Intoxicated driver
Older drivers who easily get confused
Purposeful acts including attempts to commit suicide and criminals attempting to elude the police
Inattentive drivers who mistake an off-ramp for an on-ramp
Mental defect or disease
Prescription drug intoxication
Inexperience
GPS providing incorrect, inaccurate or confusing information

Safety tips and information related to wrong way driver situations:

Watch far ahead for signs of a possible wrong way driver, looking for signs similar to pending problems or developing emergency situations such as other traffic braking or swerving to avoid something, or the obvious - headlights coming in the opposite direction.
Caution against driving long periods in the left lane on freeways, especially on curves and over a hill or any rise in the road where you aren’t able to clearly see ahead.
Be aware that wrong way drivers usually drive in the passing lane believing they are actually on a two-lane highway.
The most common types of wrong way crashes are head-on or sideswipe crashes.

What should you do if you see a wrong-way driver?

· Get to the shoulder and stop.

· If you can’t get to the shoulder, slow down and attempt to safely stop your vehicle by pulling to the right.

· Sound your horn.

· Put on your lights and flash the high beams.

· Call 9-1-1.

· Before getting in the car wear your seat belts.

· Drive in the right hand lane of travel on the Interstate.

· When passing or coming to the crest of a hill look ahead for a wrong-way driver making sure the lane is clear.

· Assume when in the left hand lane of a divided highway that you may come upon a wrong-way driver.

· When driving on a divided highway stay vigilant and pay attention to what is ahead of you. Avoid allowing distractions to take your attention off the road ahead.

How can drivers avoid wrong-way driving?

· Don’t drive drunk.

· When coming to a divided highway come to a complete stop, look at and read the signs, making sure you know which way to go.

· Don’t allow vehicles to the rear to rush you.

· Stay off the telephone when driving.

· Don’t allow distractions to interfere with being vigilant about your driving.

· If you’re a young driver, don’t drive when the other passengers are a distraction.

· If you’re an elderly driver, get evaluated once a year to see if your senses and skill level allow you to safely drive. Don’t be so stubborn about giving up your driver’s license that you ignore the signs of perception difficulties. Invest in and use a GPS.