WSDOT is using tech to stop wrong-way drivers

It’s one of the scariest situations you can have behind the wheel: facing down a wrong-way driver.

Our state is tied for the worst in the nation for wrong-way crash fatalities, but new technology is being used to reverse the stats.

Wrong-way drivers are responsible for about 4% of all traffic fatalities across the U.S. In Washington, that number is 8%, twice the national average.

There have been 57 fatal wrong-way crashes in Washington since 2020. There have been more than 400 crashes involving wrong-way drivers, and there have been more than 8,000 reports of wrong-way drivers in those five years.

What can you do to prevent wrong-way driving?

The Washington Department of Transportation is looking to stop those drivers as they enter a road in the wrong direction, and it is going high-tech to do it. Crews have installed new wrong-way detection systems on the ramps at 10 locations in the state. Four are along State Route 18. Four are on I-5 ramps in the southern part of the state. Another two on I-5 in Thurston County.

When a driver enters the ramp in the wrong direction at those ten locations, a series of sensors and cameras begin to go off.

“It uses a series of cameras, sensors, and even radar to detect if a vehicle is going the wrong way on a ramp,” Sarah Hannon-Nein, spokesperson for WSDOT, said. “It immediately alerts our traffic management center, who then works really closely with law enforcement, to let them know we have a car headed the wrong way on a freeway.”

The message boards over the freeway will also alert other drivers to the potential danger. WSDOT has also installed more than a thousand new wrong-way signs and added LED lighting to them.

“We also implemented or installed LED lights around those signs, so if you are going the wrong way on a ramp, those signs are going to light up and flash at you,” Hannon-Nein said.

The state has also installed pavement markings at 108 ramps around the state. They are arrows in the pavement that point in the proper direction of travel,” Hannon-Nein said. “When you are going the wrong way, those arrows are going to light up at you.”

The state used recent crash data to determine where to install the improvements. This is part of $2 million set aside by the legislature to attack this issue.

And as you might guess, impairment is the top cause for wrong-way driving.

“Technology alone isn’t enough. Real safety starts with smart choices behind the wheel,” Hannon-Nein said.  “Just a reminder to stay alert, drive sober, and help us reduce the 8% of fatal crashes that are caused by wrong-way driving.”

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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