There was a wrong way fatality on California State Route 41 near Friant Road in Fresno yesterday. The grim nature of the accident reminded me a lot of the infamous stretch of Interstate 17 on the Black Canyon Freeway which has a reputation for similar wrong way collisions. I seem to recall the antiquated ramp and frontage road designs were often the scapegoat when it came to I-17. Are there any other similar segments of divided highway that have a reputation for wrong way collisions?
When this portion of the new four-lane Mountain Parkway opened in Magoffin County (https://goo.gl/maps/6cYDyfgPpPYSqCub6) we had a rash of wrong-way collisions. Eastbound drivers would drive to the left of the spot where the median begins despite pavement markings and signage. Additional pavement markings and signage were installed but there were still issues. When construction began on the segment to the west of this location, a temporary lane closure was put in place for the westbound lanes and barrels were added to make it more noticeable and difficult for drivers to head the wrong way.
A similar configuration just opened near Exit 57, as a new four-lane segment was put into service. There are warning signs and an electronic message board warning drivers to keep right, and when final paving is done, there are plans to put recessed pavement markers in the asphalt.
There was a recent tragic wrong-way wreck on I-75 near Lexington. The driver was intoxicated on alcohol and meth, and I think marijuana as well.
It happens here on Interstate 45 I feel. I don't know why but every time I see something about a wrong way driver it's on 45
Not sure how often it happens, but I was in a van headed northbound on I-15 around the UT/ID border when we came across a wrong-way driver that almost hit us.
Also seems some disoriented elderly person manages to head the wrong way on I-215 every so often.
There's a wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrong-way_driving) for this, and there was a "National Wrong-Way Driving Summit" (great name) in 2013.
It would be interesting to see a heat map of the most "crash-prone modern freeways". Contributing factors include driver age and blood alcohol content.
We, in Illinois, had a rash of them 2 years ago along I-80 in the South Suburbs. Because of that, ISTHA and some IDOT districts have erected some changes to the Do Not Enter by adding One Way signs and Wrong Way signs with the reflective red stripes and doubled up the sign. Like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7249977,-88.0354348,3a,75y,343.89h,90.16t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6Iho7SILndXDhpNDvu91_w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D6Iho7SILndXDhpNDvu91_w%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D243.82996%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192