Sometimes a “Do Not Enter” sign is not enough to stop a wrong way driver. In the last 10 years, 91 people have died in crashes as a result of wrong-way drivers in Arizona.
The Arizona Department of Transportation is now making plans to test a prototype wrong-way driver detection system.
Doug Nintzel with ADOT said the department plans to use the same sensors in the pavement that track the regular traffic flow to sense wrong way drivers.
“There are censors in the pavement in Phoenix area freeways that are right now tracking the flow of traffic going the right way. ADOT is working to develop up a prototype system that would also use those same censors to track vehicles going the wrong way,” he said.
Nintzel said the department is now planning to test a prototype vehicle detection system along Interstate 17.
“There are some figures out there that tell us that the most wrong way crashes along Valley freeways have occurred along the I-17. And you could start somewhere else, but this is a good starting point for us,”Nintzel said.
A location for the prototype along the I-17 has not been chosen, yet. Nintzel said the 3- to 4-mile stretch will be chosen in the next year.
