Wrong Way Drivers

[dlsterner]

Had a potentially scary situation several years back.  On the portion of US 301 in Maryland between the Bay Bridge and Delaware, there is a rest area here:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0788503,-75.9797992,736m/data=!3m1!1e3 which is in the median of the highway.  With enough tree growth near the southbound side to not give a clear view.

I was leaving, about to make a left turn into the southbound lane when I noticed that the car in front of me had his right turn signal on.  I furiously honked my horn and gestured for him to turn left.  Ignored me at first but finally saw me and ended up turning correctly.

I shudder to think about what may have happened had he turned right and risked a potential head-on crash at 60 mph (or higher).

[briantroutman]

^ The situation is arguably confused by the presence of parallel local roads on either side of US 301. The separation between the southbound US 301 carriageway and White Marsh/Granny Branch Road looks like a median. And therefore at a quick glance, the driver could easily be tricked into thinking that the roadway closest to him/her is one way to the right and that the distant roadway is one way to the left.

Compounding the problem, at least according to Street View, there are no DO NOT ENTER signs posted immediately at the intersection; small ones are instead posted several hundred feet upstream. Yes, there are small ONE WAY arrows mounted atop the stop signs, but those would be easy for the motorist to overlook once he/she inches past the stop line.

I'm not an expert on the MUTCD without looking up all the relevant passages (which I don't have time to do now), but it seems to me that the traffic controls here are insufficient for the unusual configuration–if not entirely out of compliance. Given the odd arrangement (rest area in median, trees reducing sight distances, frontage roads confusing the landscape) and the prevailing traffic speeds, I think this intersection would warrant oversized freeway-spec DO NOT ENTER signs posted on either side immediately at the intersection, oversized ONE WAY arrows on both upstream sides of the intersection, and directional arrows painted on the travel lanes.