Dangerous wrong-way drivers continue to rile fellow motorists

Wrong-way drivers seem to cause one or two traffic fatalities a month on Bay Area freeways, and I cannot understand why nothing has been done to prevent drivers who enter an exit ramp from the wrong direction from continuing to drive onto the freeway.

One solution might be a small solar-powered sign that would flash something like “STOP! WRONG WAY!” on approach. Another might be a solar-powered traffic-metering signal that would start flashing red. The cheapest solution might be to line exit ramps with orange lane markers like the type used in construction zones that could be fitted with red flashers like the solar-powered lights used to illuminate driveways and walkways.

Using existing technology to eliminate 99% of wrong-way driving accidents is not rocket science and should be done now. —Bobtomkiewicz, San Jose You are so right, and Caltrans agrees. The state has approved installing extra warning signs and sensors on some offramps to alert the CHP when someone entering a freeway is going the wrong direction.

Over the next few years, around 2.5 million red warning reflector dots will be placed on state roads to stem these tragedies. That means red reflectors every 48 feet or 1,100 red reflectors per mile on 10-lane freeways. Caltrans now places a single row of red reflectors every half-mile on freeways.

During a three-year pilot program, Caltrans tested exit ramps in Sacramento and San Diego, adding two-way reflective pavement markers that show white or yellow to right-way drivers, and red to wrong-way drivers. Extra “Wrong Way” signs and “Do Not Enter” LED lights flashing 24 hours were also added.

Wrong-way collisions on divided highways are rare — accounting for about 1% of all crashes on state highways. But there were 248 wrong-way collisions in California last year, up from 193 in 2013.

On average, 37 people are killed in wrongway collisions each year on California’s highways. Eight of nine are caused by drunk drivers, with most occurring late at night or in pre-dawn hours.

In San Diego, the number of wrong-way drivers decreased by 44% after reflective markers were installed.

In the past three years:

• Four people were killed on Highway 101 when a drunk driver hit a taxi near San Francisco International Airport.

• A woman was killed and six people were injured after driving for several miles in the wrong direction on Highway 17 and Interstate 880.

• A Fremont teen was killed when a drunk driver slammed into his car on Highway 17.

One of the worst of these types of accidents occurred just over five years ago when six people were killed in a wrongway car crash on Interstate 5 outside of Woodland.

Join Gary Richards for an hourlong chat noon Wednesday at www.mercurynews.com/live-chats. Look for Gary at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow, contact him at mrroadshow@ bayareanewsgroup.com, 408-920-5335, or at grichards@bayareanewsgroup.com