Caltrans looking to prevent wrong-way accidents with improved signs.
Car crashes are not just inconvenient, they're dangerous as well. They're caused for various reasons. Sometimes a driver is distracted, intoxicated, or confused. While they occur relatively infrequently, wrong-way drivers are accountable for a significant percentage of lethal accidents. Last year, 13 deaths resulted from wrong-way driving on San Diego freeways. A report from 2012 says that these types of drivers cause .2 percent of crashes on the freeway, yet they account for nearly 3% of accident fatalities.
A wrong-way accident occurs when a driver drives against traffic. While most of these occurrences happen after midnight, there are various types of drivers that make the mistake of driving in the wrong direction. While the authorities report that a majority of these drivers are drunk drivers, others are elderly, suicidal or trying to avoid law enforcement officials.
Caltrans is taking action to help prevent these types of accidents. Their pilot program in San Diego will help to make freeway exit ramps more visible. The plan involved larger signs, flashing lights, and sensors along the off-ramps. Signs will read €œwrong way € and €œdo not enter € and will be strategically placed so that they're more visible. Additionally, there will be bigger and brighter pavement arrows and flashing lights to indicate to a driver that he or she is going the wrong way. Additionally, ramps with greater traffic volume will have sensors that will alert California Highway Patrol to wrong-way drivers. Researchers will then analyze the data to see how these improvements reduce the number of wrong-way drivers.
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