UC Davis, Caltrans Partner to Prevent Wrong-Way Driver Crashes
By Andy Fell on July 13, 2020
"Caltrans and the UC Davis Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) Research Center today released two reports highlighting ways to prevent rare but often deadly collisions involving wrong-way drivers.
One of the prevention measures included in the three-year pilot program — reflectors that alert drivers they are entering the roadway in the wrong direction — proved to be so effective that Caltrans has already installed the reflective markers on hundreds of miles of highways.
'Adding the two-way reflective markers proved to be so effective that Caltrans updated its statewide design standards,' said Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin. 'It’s a low-cost measure we can use throughout the state to deter wrong way drivers and potentially save lives on California’s highway system.'
The program was developed following 10 wrong-way driver related collisions on Sacramento and San Diego area freeways in the first six months of 2015. During the three-year pilot program, Caltrans tested new signage and technology, while UC Davis AHMCT and Caltrans researchers conducted a second study using a vision-based monitoring system, or VBMS, in Sacramento to better understand the causes of wrong-way driving incidents."