Current Practices of Safety Countermeasures for Wrong-Way Driving Crashes

Driving the wrong way on high-speed, physically divided highways, namely wrong-way driving (WWD), has been a consistent issue in the United States since the introduction of the interstate system in the 1950s. This type of crash, which constitutes only about three percent of crashes on these facilities, tend to be more severe, increasing the probability for fatalities or incapacitating injuries. Despite employing numerous countermeasures to combat WWD issues in the nation, no recent research has been conducted to investigate the effectiveness and level of acceptance of these countermeasures and current practices. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by assessing the information gathered from a survey at the first National WWD Summit held in July 2013 and by studying emerging countermeasures currently employed in various jurisdictions. On the basis of analyzing the survey results and developed countermeasures, an insight into various characteristic aspects of WWD countermeasures is provided.