Wrong-way driving

It can occur on either one- or two-way roads, as well as in parking lots and parking garages, and may be due to driver inattention or impairment, or because of insufficient or confusing road markings or signage,[1] or a driver from a right-hand traffic country being unaccustomed to driving in a left-hand traffic country and vice versa.

[3] It is also evidenced by a number of videos that have been posted on the internet showing the exact moment of wrong-way driving and subsequent head-on collisions.

One important part of this report is Section 4 which provides recommendations for different agencies, including Federal Highway Administration and NHTSA, to address wrong-way collisions.

The purpose of this summit, sponsored by the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT) and Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), was to provide a platform for practitioners and researchers to exchange ideas, evaluate current countermeasures, and develop best practices to reduce wrong-way crashes and incidents through a 4E’s approach (Engineering, Education, Enforcement, and Emergency Response).

[9] The researchers compiled the guidebook by reviewing previous studies, assessing current practices, and examining national and state design standards and manuals that pertain to WWD.

The research team also obtained significant information from the National Wrong-Way Driving Summit hosted by IDOT and SUIE as part of this project in July 2013.

[10] The researchers found an average of 269 fatal crashes resulting in 359 deaths occurred annually in the United States during an 8-year period covering the years 2004 through 2011.