Can Anything Be Done To Prevent Wrong-Way Driving Accidents?
Accidents caused by wrong-way driving are rare in comparison to other types of accidents. Statistics show that only about three percent of accidents are caused by wrong-way drivers. However, due to their nature, they are also far more likely to result in a fatality than other accidents.
More often than not, wrong-way driving accidents occur on freeways and motorways, roads with higher speed limits than residential neighborhoods, or one-way streets downtown. When a car is traveling 60 mph or more and heading toward cars traveling that same speed, the impact of that crash is much higher than in other accidents, and much more likely to result in a fatality.
Why wrong-way accidents happen
It might seem hard to believe that someone might enter a freeway exit, with all of the signs warning a driver not to enter. However, not all off-ramps have proper or easily visible signage. If the driver is inebriated or has poorer than average vision, they may not notice the signs that are there and enter the freeway in the wrong direction.
Many states are enacting measures to help decrease the rates of wrong-way driving. The company Image Sensing Systems, for example, has created a device that uses both radar and camera footage. When a car is traveling the wrong way down a highway where this device is installed, the radar is triggered, which then turns on the camera. So far, this device has proven successful. “We installed one in Colorado,” said Lisa Chubb, spokesperson for ISS, “and caught a live event within the first week.”
Other technologies have included different alert systems that can not only warn other drivers on the road of a car traveling the wrong way, but also notify law enforcement of a wrong-way driver, so that they might be stopped before an accident occurs.
A Washington car accident lawyer usually meets clients when they are at their lowest, when they’ve been involved in an accident and don’t know what to do next. Attorney Richard E. Lewis understands the pain and suffering that can be caused by a wrong-way accident. If you have been injured in an accident, contact us today. We will fight to get you the care and compensation you deserve.