Wrong Way Drivers in your State? [Archive]

markm

07-31-19, 15:31

GTF425

07-31-19, 15:45

I work the equivalent of 3rd shift and have probably run a handful of those scenarios this year. Thankfully most don't make it off of the ramp for the Interstate.

I get PLENTY of people going the wrong way down one way streets, though.

kerplode

07-31-19, 15:48

I don't hear of it too much in CO, but when I lived in Newer Mexico, it was practically the state's pastime.

Doc Safari

07-31-19, 15:52

The only wrong-way drivers I've seen are the ones from California. They should be LEAVING New Mexico, not ARRIVING.

markm

07-31-19, 16:09

We have 1 or 2 per week here... some more fantastic than others. But I'm convinced it's the power of suggestion to the brain dead masses.

1168

07-31-19, 16:12

I see it all the time. More in more populated areas. Seems to be more in richer areas, too.

SomeOtherGuy

07-31-19, 16:16

Not a fad. This has been an occasional but regular issue in lower Michigan for decades, with fatalities on a regular basis.

Don't drive drunk. Don't tolerate other people driving drunk. Two dead relatives of mine killed by a .34 BAC drunk got the message through painfully loud and clear. They weren't on a freeway, but had pulled over fully onto the shoulder after seeing the drunk swerving around coming towards them. The totally-blasted drunk apparently was moth to headlights and still ran into them head-on, on the shoulder of their side of the road. No sympathy for drunk driving here.

1168

07-31-19, 16:41

Yeah, its certainly not new.

Rekkr870

07-31-19, 16:45

I see a couple come through every month. Our problem is the amount of GSW's or stabbings.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

flenna

07-31-19, 17:50

markm

07-31-19, 18:15

The PD I worked at had a major interstate, I-40, running through its limits. A couple of times a year we would have fatalities due to someone going the wrong way and the majority of the time it was an elderly driver. Once I actually saw a car entering an exit ramp and stopped it. It was an elderly man who was adamant he was going the right way and argued with me before I convinced him to turn around.

I can understand the elderly factor. That's certainly the exception in the uptick we're seeing in AZ. These idiots consist of all genders, sizes, and colors/ethnicity.

One guy was caught on airport cameras leaving the parking area going the wrong way and made it miles down the freeway before he (if I remember right) was killed in the crash.

donlapalma

07-31-19, 18:37

I've seen it markm. And it's one of the reasons I don't drive in the fast lane or HOV lane late at night.

Arik

07-31-19, 18:38

Happens once in a while. Usually happens on Roosevelt Blvd which is usually the fault of whomever designed the road.

WickedWillis

07-31-19, 18:39

We have had several over the last few years. Unfortunately most cases were elderly drivers. No fatalities though. We did have some dude hopped up on pills and alcohol that took cops for a big ride last summer. Hit like 6 or 7 vehicles, before getting on the freeway and ramming himself into the median.

markm

07-31-19, 18:48

I've seen it markm. And it's one of the reasons I don't drive in the fast lane or HOV lane late at night.

Definitely. I'm rarely driving at night, but if I had to take the freeway, I'd be extra cautious.

As you've seen... out here in AZ, it's so bad they have infra-red sensors, and alert lights, etc. It's baffling to me.

The_War_Wagon

07-31-19, 18:51

Been happening a LOT more of late around Pittsburgh, it seems. Especially on Rt.28 east of downtown. Major artery, and I travel it regularly - but only during the day. Drunks comes out at night, and its always the sober who end up dying.

markm

07-31-19, 20:35

They just re-capped the stats on the local news. Year to date numbers, etc. Blows my mind.

SomeOtherGuy

07-31-19, 20:48

The PD I worked at *** Once I actually saw a car entering an exit ramp and stopped it. It was an elderly man who was adamant he was going the right way and argued with me before I convinced him to turn around.

I realize he was just confused and not trying to endanger people, but do you have any way to deal with these people before fatalities happen? Michigan has elderly, sober wrong-way drivers too, and they also kill people. Michigan law on driver's licenses allows licenses to be suspended for medical reasons, and since Michigan is among the most pro-car, pro-driver states, I imagine the other 49 states do as well.

C-grunt

07-31-19, 22:10

I've talked to a couple DPS guys and they say it hasn't really been rising but there have been several high profile fatalities in the last few years so the news is reporting it a lot more.

NYH1

07-31-19, 23:11

We've had them here in Central New Yorkistan. There was one when I was younger where a guy killed a family of 4 or 5. Of course he was drunk and didn't get hurt to bad.

NYH1.

Averageman

07-31-19, 23:48

I have no tolerance for this malarkey and it's getting old.
The newspaper prints the crime report and just looking at the names it's pretty clear where this BS is coming from.
Between drunk driving and statutory rape, if we removed our illegals 80% of that crap wouldn't happen.

1168

08-01-19, 04:57

Averageman

08-01-19, 09:25

I’ve seen zero illegals driving the wrong way in my area. It seems to be a distinctly white people thing, here.

I guess it depends where you live.
Honestly, if you're in a border state and you sit down with a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper, just read the police reports. My numbers on this may be slightly skewed but I would guess 50% of the police reports in our local paper are driven by 15% of our population.

turnburglar

08-01-19, 10:42

Do you guys in other states see the fad of wrong way driving by drunk/wasted drivers on freeways/highways?

We had a fatality here in metro Phx over night. I don't get it. Are people more retarded than ever? Is it the power of suggestion?

I don't remember hearing about this at all in previous decades.

Im in Phoenix too, and it seems to be a west side thing. I used to live in Glendale off Camelback and saw the most horrifiic crashes at 35MPH. Infant death's; cars on fire; rear ends for absolutely no reason... I thought north vegas was bad, but not compared to Glendale. Im just gonna come out and call it a cultural thing. More uninsured, illegal drivers dont share the same affinity for DUI that licesened drivers seem to have.

markm

08-01-19, 11:04

The news was pounding away on this again last night. And it's not like the usual fear mongering. There's legit stats/numbers on the incidents.

1168

08-01-19, 11:16

I guess it depends where you live.
Honestly, if you're in a border state and you sit down with a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper, just read the police reports. My numbers on this may be slightly skewed but I would guess 50% of the police reports in our local paper are driven by 15% of our population.

We have a good bit of Hispanic population here, but they seem to keep their heads down.

LowSpeed_HighDrag

08-01-19, 11:51

I seem to remember a recent thread where a forum member talked about how evil the police were because they asked him if he was driving drunk one night. It would seem DUI enforcement is a very real, and valid, form of public safety....

markm

08-01-19, 13:20

I've seen the illegals injuring/killing with DUIs here. But the wrong way retards are a mixed bag of all walks of life.

26 Inf

08-01-19, 15:22

I've seen the illegals injuring/killing with DUIs here. But the wrong way retards are a mixed bag of all walks of life.

In Kansas, I'd say they are 1) elderly; 2) drunk. My feeling is they most often get onto the wrong roadway at on-grade intersections - they think they are turning onto a two-lane road.

We had one police officer nearly killed in this manner (elderly), and several kids killed in a different wrong way accident (DUI) along a 25 mile stretch of divided highway.

flenna

08-01-19, 15:51

I've seen the illegals injuring/killing with DUIs here. But the wrong way retards are a mixed bag of all walks of life.

When we worked a hit and run/ leaving the scene nine times out of ten it was an illegal. We’d arrest them and call Immigration to come get them but they never would. They would bond out and disappear.

Pappabear

08-01-19, 15:54

Our drunks drive for miles until the head on somebody half the time. Last night, Killed the person they hit and wrongly got minor injuries. WTF

PB

markm

08-01-19, 18:46

When we worked a hit and run/ leaving the scene nine times out of ten it was an illegal. We’d arrest them and call Immigration to come get them but they never would. They would bond out and disappear.

That's infuriating.

26 Inf

08-02-19, 00:03

(We'd) call Immigration to come get them but they never would. They would bond out and disappear.

That's infuriating.

From personal knowledge I can attest that it has been that way since 1976.

ThirdWatcher

08-02-19, 04:58

I've seen it markm. And it's one of the reasons I don't drive in the fast lane or HOV lane late at night.

+1. During my time as a Trooper I actually got three different wrong way drivers stopped before they crashed. None had been drinking, all were old and confused. I once went to a crash where all four occupants of a wrong way car were dead, all elderly, none had been drinking, just confused. All of these occurred in the inside lane.

I hate drunk drivers though, they really caused a lot of carnage back in the ‘80’s. Best way to get away with murder in this country is to get drunk and use your car as a weapon.

eightmillimeter

08-02-19, 10:38

https://www.kimt.com/content/news/6-people-killed-in-I-90-crash-in-southeastern-Minnesota-513566771.html

OLMSTED COUNTY, Minn.- Six people were killed when a vehicle going the wrong way on Interstate-90 crashed into another vehicle southwest of Eyota.

It happened around 1:30 Friday morning in the westbound lane of I-90 between the Marion Rest Area and Highway 42/Co. Rd. 7 interchange. The Minnesota State Patrol confirmed that six people were killed in the two-vehicle crash. There were three people killed in each vehicle, authorities said.

“Preliminary reports indicate a vehicle was going the wrong way, heading eastbound, when it struck another vehicle heading westbound on I-90 near milepost 223,” law enforcement said.

The two vehicles involved were a 2005 Chrysler Sebring and a 2008 Ford Focus. Investigators are still trying to determine which vehicle was going in the wrong direction.

The cause is still under investigation. The westbound lanes of the Interstate were closed for several hours as investigators processed the scene.
I-90 re-opened in both directions at around 7:30 a.m.

It happens everywhere, this one this morning in MN.

markm

08-02-19, 12:19

They reported 2 more collisions since the fatality the other night. It's a substantial topic on our news lately. The new talking point is how they're now happening in the day time.

FromMyColdDeadHand

08-02-19, 12:32

Watched a guy make a left hand turn on a red light yesterday. The opposing traffics left turn lane moved and I guess he assumed he had a left turn light, but he didn’t. Luckily the person going straight opposing him was just a bit slow.

High
Illegal (didn’t learn to drive while young)
Californian
On their phone

And don’t get me started about illegals coming from Cali on their phones while high.

baffle Stack

08-02-19, 13:12

Its still fairly common here in NM. My GF called me crying last year after almost being hit head on by a wrong way driver on I-25. The guy was driving the wrong way down the fast lane. She said she would have been hit had she decided to pass the semi in front of her. She can't really say why she didn't' pass him that day. I had always told her to be careful on the highway. She's since heeded my advice.

I can recall a very high profile case of a wrong way driver from the 90's named Gordon House. He killed 3 girls and their mother on Christmas eve. I was only about 8 or 9 years old at the time. About the same age as the victims. :(

So yeah it's a thing in my state.