Alcohol, Dementia Some of the Causes for Wrong Way Drivers - ClaimsJournal.com
A car emerges from the blackness heading the wrong way along an unlit divided highway. , whose Hyundai Elantra barreled north in the southbound lane of Route 8 on the night of Aug. 22 until he struck 29-year-old David Dziadik head on near Exit 37, killing him instantly, police said. This was the latest wrong-way crash on Route 8, which has seen at least three fatal accidents in 10 years because of wrong-way drivers, but similar accidents for the same reason have been reported statewide for years. Over the next year or so, the state Department of Transportation plans to replace the six, staggered reflective signs along exit ramps with bigger, more reflective signs positioned just above snowbank level. All of the new “Do Not Enter,” “Wrong Way” and “One Way” signs are larger and more reflective, and have reflective posts. The transportation agency is working with the state police to identify locations with “abnormally high” incidence of wrong way drivers, but all of the ramps will have new signs through $5. 5 million in Federal Highway Safety Improvement funding. Eight of the newer signs will replace six smaller ones. The goal, Nursick said, is specifically to keep drivers from entering an exit ramp. They don’t address the cause of what police say is behind nearly all of the wrong-way cases reported statewide: Drunk drivers. Source: www.claimsjournal.com
