Prompted by what authorities are calling an "alarming spike" in wrong-way fatalities, Caltrans is piloting a program to better alert drivers to off-ramps.
Wrong-way crashes have a higher likelihood of being fatal. In 2012, wrong-way drivers caused about 0.2 percent of the 109,000 freeway crashes in the state, but were responsible for nearly 3 percent of all the fatal crashes, according to Caltrans.
Caltrans spokesman Edward Cartagena said they’re particularly devastating to families of the victims, first-responders and the community.
“With the hundreds of thousands of crashes that happen across the state in any given year, these wrong-way drivers are typically the most devastating when it comes to family or friends or the first responderst that are out there,” Cartagena said.
Wrong-way drivers killed 13 people on San Diego freeways last year, with five of those deaths in December alone, as reported Sunday by UT San Diego’s Pauline Repard.
State officials, California Highway Patrol and Caltrans all call it an alarming spike.
Now, Caltrans is introducing a pilot program to improve warning signs on 63 off-ramps on the Interstate 15 between California State Route 78 and Interstate 8.
The plan includes bigger “wrong-way” signs, flashing lights and sensors that alert California Highway Patrol when someone enters the freeway the wrong way.
Each off-ramp along I-15, stretching through much of the county, is ranked as a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 danger.
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The amount of signage and reflectors depends on the level.
Funding for the project comes from the state, and the signs are being installed at the end of the month. Cartagena said if successful, the program may be expanded.
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