Wrong Way Crashes
Florida DOT – Preventing Wrong Way Crashes
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) 
on average, 360 people die annually in roughly 260 fatal wrong-way collisions. Most of these types of accidents occur when people have been drinking, and the majority happen after midnight. Most of the drivers range in age from 20-38. The NTSB also found a number of drivers older than 70 were involved in these crashes, where alcohol was not a factor.
Florida has seen a dramatic increase in wrong way crashes on its major roadways. Florida officials report that there were 24 wrong-way crashes along the Turnpike from 2010 through 2012; there were 22 fatal crashes in Broward and Palm Beach counties from 2009 through 2013.
In an effort to prevent or reduce these types of accidents, Florida’s Department of Transportation will install solar powered, flashing signs to warn wrong-way drivers and also alert authorities to their presence.
The signs will be installed this summer at 10 ramps on the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike and five ramps on the Sawgrass Expressway. The signs use radar and cameras to send images and location information about drivers traveling in the wrong direction to the state’s traffic management system and the Florida Highway Patrol’s Command Center.
This pilot program, used successfully in other states, will run two years.
