By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Fatal wrong-way driving crashes are a problem across the country, though Kansas has been doing better than some states of late.
"Fatal wrong-way driving crashes on our highways has really been a persistent and devastating threat, getting worse on a national basis," said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. "We did some analysis through our AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and found that there were 2000 deaths from wrong-way driving crashes on divided highways between 2015 and 2018."
In recent years, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) has taken multiple steps to put the brakes on wrong-way crashes, and the numbers suggest those efforts have made a difference.
"Wrong way crash fatalities dropped more than 36% over that period in the Sunflower State," Steward said. "From 2010 to 2014, we saw 47 fatal crashes in a wrong-way crash situation and then saw 24 happening between 2015 and 2018."
To mitigate wrong-way crashes in Kansas, the Department of Transportation partnered with Kansas State University to conduct research on wrong-way driving.
"They've been identifying hotspots and trouble places, especially with on-ramps," Steward said. "They've installed and been testing some wrong-way countermeasures at different interchanges and will be looking to expand those across the state to further help notify drivers that hey, you're headed the wrong way."
Researchers examined eight factors related to these types of crashes, and three stood out – alcohol-impairment, older age, and driving without a passenger. Six in ten wrong-way crashes involved an alcohol-impaired driver.