Wrong-way crashes on the rise

"It was coming right at me," said the 9-1-1 caller who was almost hit by a wrong way driver last February on Interstate 75. "I just pulled over to the side to get out of the way."

Seconds later, that same wrong way driver struck an SUV head-on. Five people were dead. 

More calls poured came into the 9-1-1 dispatch center including one from a motorist who stopped to try and help the victims. 

"Are they responding to you?," asked the dispatcher. 

"No, nobody's responding," replied the caller. 

Three of the victims were members of the rock band "Counterflux" and they were Justin Neace's best friends. 

"I was just with them the night before and I was supposed to be traveling with them," said Neace. "I dropped my phone. I broke down to my knees and I lost it."

In March, a woman died when troopers said she drove into a semi on Interstate 70. Then, two weeks later, a man died on 70 when he steered into an overpass pillar. In the first three
months of this year, 12 people died in wrong way crashes in our state and 8 of those victims were from Southwest Ohio. 

>>INTERACTIVE MAP: See some of the wrong-way crashes in the area<< 

"One person going 70, and the other person going 70, you're talking about a 140 mile per hour impact," said Lt. Brian Aller of the Ohio Highway Patrol. "The best thing you can do is slow down."

Wrong way crashes make up less than one-tenth of one percent of highway accidents. Yet, they are 100 times more likely to be deadly. The Ohio Department of Transportation said they happen all over but mostly in urban areas. 

ODOT's Matt Bruning said, "The challenge isn't so much what to do as where to do it. Where do you put the counter measures because they're so random?"

Statistics show in many cases, the drivers at fault were hard core drunk drivers. 

"These aren't people who are blowing a 0.08," said Bruning. "These are people who are two or three or four times the legal limit. They are very drunk."

Now, ODOT officials are focusing on new wrong way warning signs. 

"The state has started adding more wrong way signs closer to the ground. They say the material is cheap and they've learned drunk drivers typically have a lower field of vision," said Bruning.

Traffic spikes are not being considered because experts say they actually make ramps more dangerous and they are only effective at low speeds. 

In California, officials are improving warning devices like lights and sensors and the North Texas Tollway Authority is installing red pavement reflectors and flashing lights on exit ramps. Experts say wrong way crashes there have dropped 60 percent.

"We're certainly open to look at anything," said Bruning. "We obviously have to look at is it financially the right thing to do?"

Most everyone we interviewed agree that the best way to prevent wrong way crashes is to keep drunk drivers off the road. 

Justin Neace now wonders what he would do if a car was coming at him on the highway. 

"It's made me realize that anybody can go at any time," Neace said.