"Wrong-way" accidents on expressways

[back yard]

Recently heard of some news about how people mistook the highway exit as the entrance and then created accidents, which uniquely happened in Central Ohio. There are 11 people died of the accidents since last Christmas and 90% of the accidents caused by drunk drivers going to the wrong way.

The press and ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation) say that since the accidents randomly took place it's hard to find a pattern about why they happened a lot in Ohio.

Anyone wants to throw any ideas about how each place of yours deals with highway exit/entrance signs?

[The One]

I've almost been killed by scumbags driving the wrong way on a highway.....once on Hwy 285 in Colorado, other car came at me downhill in the wrong direction, during a snowfall...narrow miss.. and again on the same road at night on a Friday, they didn't even slow down and the only reason I'm alive now, is because they were in the left lane (my left lane) and I was in my right lane......

The only time I've nearly driven the wrong way was in an urban area making a left turn into a larger entry street where the median appeared to be the edge of street....caught myself at the last second and no one was facing me....oh and I WASN'T Drunk off my arse.....

[ssnyderjr]

Every off-ramp could have one-way tire-puncture mechanisims, similar to parking garages, where a vehicle can only pass over it in 1 direction, if they go the wrong-way then BLAM, all of their tires get popped with the steel spikes that protrude out of the ground, it may be costly, but would slow down the idiots that don't read/follow signs when they are pee drunk.
I think drunk driving attributes to alot of stupid traffic accidents and lives lost in general. There is no good reason it is region-specific, and if enough data were dug up, it probably isn't. Maybe ODOT just collects better (more specific) data than the other DOT's?

Furthermore, ODOT's MUTCD requires one way signs to be placed perpindicular to the intersecting street at the exit points of a one-way, and the Wrong Way's to be placed intermittently along one-way streets.
We had put "DO NOT ENTER" signs at 45 degree angles to the perpendicular road at the end of a 1-way to deter idiots and lost a court case because it was not MUTCD compliant (w/one ways as described above).

[noottamevas]

When I was in high school, we were on a church trip with three vans somewhere in fields of Indiana. In a blinding snowstorm, the lead driver missed the on ramp to the interstate; he drove across the overpass and proceded ON the OFF ramp on the other side; then crossed the median to get on the right side of the road. The other two vans followed. I cringe at the thought of that going bad.

[ikeaboi]

IIRC most of the incorrectly pointed traffic was unintentional, but after the news had gotten out there were a few people doing it intentionally. I remember hearing on the local NPR station about a woman that had entered I-71 going north on the southbound lanes near OSU with a suicide note attached to her. She was stopped before causing any serious damage.

ODOT has installed rather large 'Do Not Enter' and 'Wrong Way' sign arrays on both sides of each onramp. They also put red reflectives up and down the signposts on that side (nice touch).

Between people entering expressways incorrectly and highway 'shooters', it makes one wonder if central Ohio residents don't have some pent up anger regarding the highway system.

[jhboyle]

the interstate system, amongst several other reasons, was built to serve as an evacuation route of Major US cities, so putting 1 way spikes would not be permitted as they would hinder the use of the highway system in this fashion

[SideshowBob]

Former Minnesota Timberwolves player Malik Sealy was killed by a driver going the wrong way on a freeway.

[jread]

Maybe try a big, steel doggie-door type thing that only opens one way

I can't say we have much of a problem with this in Texas... not that I know of anyway. What I DO see people do a lot here is create their own exit ramps. For instance, if traffic is really backed up on a freeway or comes to a standstill suddenly (wreck or whatever), then people will just turn off the road and drive down the hill of grass, through the ditch and up onto the access roads. Illegal, but effective as well as hilarious