Few scenarios are more terrifying for a motorist than encountering someone driving the wrong way on a freeway. When a crash occurs because of wrong-way driving (WWD), the results are often catastrophic.
Such was the case on March 15, 2011, when San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) Officer Stephanie Brown was killed by an intoxicated WWD driver while responding to a 911 call. The tragedy prompted local agencies to band together to create a task force to initiate and lead WWD countermeasure efforts in the region.
“Officer Brown’s death really brought the issue of WWD to the forefront,” says Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Engineer Steven Venglar. “San Antonio knew that it had a drinking and WWD problem, but this was certainly the point that facilitated everything coming together. What it did was essentially bring the agencies together in a task force, which was managed by the Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT].”
The task force included TxDOT, SAPD, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, the City of San Antonio Public Works, the Federal Highway Administration and TTI. The goal of the task force was to:
- investigate prior WWD-related research,
- identify high-risk locations,
- investigate WWD countermeasures for a San Antonio testbed, and
- improve agency actions to speed response to WWD events.
“The high-risk locations were determined using crash data from various sources including TransGuide logs and SAPD 911 call data,” says Venglar. “This resulted in us selecting the US 281 corridor as a WWD testbed by installing LED border-illuminated WWD red signs and WWD radar detection on all exit ramps.”
The improved agency response for WWD incidents for TxDOT included the development of TransGuide operator WWD logs, consistent dynamic message sign alerts, and WWD countermeasures for most future freeway construction projects.
Additional actions resulting from task force recommendations included:
- added red reflective tape on Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs (for WWD drivers),
- increased the size of One Way signs,
- investigated but did not implement lowered Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs, and
- performed a field study of all exit ramps in the San Antonio area.
“Past TTI research revealed a very strong link to impaired drivers,” says Venglar. “WWD crashes also occur mainly at nighttime and are severe. This project recommended pavement arrows at all exit ramps and suggested considering lowering Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs; these were things that were checked during field reviews by TTI and TxDOT staff.”
The work on the San Antonio task force led to multiple projects sponsored by TxDOT with the goal of examining WWD crash analysis and countermeasures. A recent TxDOT WWD project performed closed-course testing with alcohol-impaired drivers. This research showed that impaired drivers tended to look down and not search the forward driving scene as much, and that they also took longer to “find” roadway signage. Another project is currently examining technologies used to detect WWDs on freeway exit ramps.
Similar WWD efforts have led to countermeasure deployments in major urban areas throughout the state, including Fort Worth, Houston, El Paso and Dallas.
“TTI has been with TxDOT from day one of our WWD program,” says John Gianotti, TxDOT’s manager of the TransGuide traffic management center in San Antonio. “They have helped us analyze the data and provided proof that what we are doing is working. Their two-year study of the US 281 corridor proved that the flashing LED Wrong Way signs we installed reduced the reports of WWD activity by 30 percent — a huge first success for our WWD program. TTI continues to evaluate all aspects of our WWD program including its current research project that is evaluating WWD detection systems from numerous manufacturers for TxDOT to develop a WWD detection spec that can be used throughout the state. TTI has been one of our most valuable partners for the past 11 years and is a big reason for the success of the WWD program.”