Kansas Turnpike plans no changes after last week’s fatal crash
Changes as simple as bigger and lower "Do Not Enter" signs may prevent wrong-way accidents on highways, safety experts say.
But because crashes involving wrong-way drivers are rare, states including Kansas have focused on other safety initiatives that they say prevent more accidents.
Wrong-way accidents on Kansas' divided highways numbered 618 from 1999 to 2009, or 0.5 percent of the total 127,407 accidents on divided highways.
But they are disproportionately catastrophic: Wrong-way crashes represent 7.5 percent of the total number of fatal accidents on Kansas' divided highways for that period.
Last week, four people died on the Kansas Turnpike after a driver went the wrong way while exiting the Belle Plaine service area. The turnpike doesn't plan to make changes targeting wrong-way drivers.
In general, wrong-way crashes have received little attention in studies. When studies are done and recommendations are made, states are slow to adopt changes.
"Money is an issue," said Scott Cooner, a research engineer for the Texas Transportation Institute. "Every state has a certain amount of money they can spend on safety improvements, and they're going to spend it doing where they think it'll do the most good."
Cooner led research on one of the most recent wrong-way crash studies, in 2004. He's doing another one for the North Texas Tollway Authority.
Tom Mulinazzi, a traffic engineer who does research and training on highway safety through the University of Kansas' Transportation Research Institute, said he thinks it is time for the nation's safety engineers to take a closer look at wrong-way accidents.
Drivers most often involved in wrong-way accidents are elderly or impaired by alcohol or drugs.
"As our population gets older because of the baby boomers coming through," Mulinazzi said, "we're going to see more of these (wrong-way accidents).
"I'm elderly. I'm 67, and I'm not as good a driver as I was 10 years ago. I get confused much easier than I used to. And because I'm a traffic engineer, I realize it."
Similar patterns
Law enforcement officials are still investigating last week's crash. Blood test results won't be back for two or three weeks.
But the accident follows some of the patterns of most wrong-way collisions: It was early morning and the wrong-way driver entered at a freeway ramp.
At about 4:30 a.m. on March 15, the 27-year-old driver of an SUV came out of the service area northbound onto the southbound lanes.
The SUV driver went almost five miles the wrong way before slamming head-on into a minivan, killing three of the four occupants and himself.
Five of the turnpike's six service areas, including the one at Belle Plaine, sit between the southbound and northbound lanes.
Since the turnpike opened in 1956, drivers have been able to drive from one side to the other. Reasons for allowing drivers to circle service areas include reaching additional parking, reaching more fuel pumps and going through the drive-through lanes at restaurants, Kansas Turnpike Authority president Michael Johnston said.
"It's just not practical to wall off one side of the service area from the other," he said.
Last week, the gas station's surveillance cameras picked up the SUV going from one side of the service area to the other before heading the wrong way toward the southbound ramp.
"Do Not Enter" and "Wrong Way" signs are posted at the ramps.
"If you think about it more broadly, how many people on the turnpike every day go in and out of entrances without any problem?" Johnston asked. "Thousands and thousands."
About 33 million vehicles use the turnpike each year, he said. In 2009, the average daily northbound and southbound traffic going by the Belle Plaine service area was 18,840 vehicles.
The Texas Transportation Institute's study recommended that left-hand exit ramps — which five of the Kansas Turnpike's service areas have — be eliminated in future construction, Cooner said.
Only a few states have service areas or rest stops situated between lanes of traffic, similar to what is found on Kansas' turnpike.
Delaware has one. It is located between six lanes of traffic on I-95. Drivers can cross from one side to the other.
Mike Williams, a spokesman for Delaware's Department of Transportation, said the service area has not been an entry point for a wrong-way crash as far as he's aware.
Like Kansas' turnpike, Delaware doesn't go beyond posting signs required by federal standards to warn drivers about entering the exit ramps the wrong way, Williams said.
Height of signs
Highways around the country are required to follow the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which includes sign regulations.
Failure to do so can mean a state loses federal money and risks being sued.
Johnson said the turnpike follows the manual. He also said no changes are planned to warn drivers about entering a ramp the wrong way in the wake of last week's accident.
But changes are afoot around the country —including lowering the height of warning signs.
"Sixty to 75 percent of wrong-way drivers have had some sort of alcohol or drug involvement," Cooner said. "Intoxicated drivers tend to be looking low for their visual cues."
The federal manual requires the base of "Do Not Enter" and "Wrong Way" signs to be 5 or 7 feet off the ground, depending on location.
California and Virginia have used signs lower than those requirements for a number of years.
"They've seen a considerable amount of success," Cooner said.
But because those states didn't follow the manual, they didn't get federal money to pay for the signs.
Cooner is convinced that the lower signs are effective enough that he's testing them for the North Texas Tollway Authority.
He is looking at signs that are only a foot to 1 1/2 feet off the ground.
"There's a rationale behind the higher signs," Cooner said. "If a driver crashes into a taller sign, it's going to go over the vehicle and not hit the windshield.
"But lower signs have been effective in warning drivers. Particularly at night, they're very noticeable."
Apparently, the federal manual agrees. The 2009 edition, updated from 2003, allows for warning signs to be lower.
Like other states, Kansas is still operating off the 2003 manual, said Steven Buckley, the state's highway safety engineer. It usually takes two years to review and adopt a revised manual.
Other techniques
Some states are attempting other innovative techniques to prevent drivers from going the wrong way on divided highway ramps.
Last September, the North Texas Tollway Authority began testing a system of sensors in the pavement that automatically detects vehicles going the wrong way.
The sensors alert a command center, triggering a call to the Department of Safety.
The tollway already had 30-foot reflective arrows on the pavement of exit ramps.
Other states use reflectors, flashing lights and directional arrows to warn drivers they are headed the wrong way.
Some have tried using spike strips to stop drivers from going the wrong way. But studies have shown spikes often fail to deflate tires quickly enough to prevent vehicles from entering the highway. Puncture-resistant tires may not deflate at all.
Another concern is that a vehicle might be left disabled on the highway, creating another risk. Plus, highway safety experts say, there are times emergency vehicles need to go the wrong way at an exit.
States also use raised pavement markings. They show up white to a driver going the right way and red to one going the wrong way.
"That's fine," Mulinazzi said, "But snow plows would eat them in Kansas."
He did have some recommendations for ramps on all of Kansas' divided highways, not just those on the turnpike:
* Use two sets of "Wrong Way" and "Do Not Enter" signs, one on each side of the ramps.
Buckley, the state's highway safety engineer, said federal regulations require only one "Do Not Enter" sign; a second one is optional. He said a "Wrong Way" sign is not required by the regulations but is frequently used.
* Lower the signs to "driver's eye level" and increase the size to 48 inches by 48 inches.
Buckley said typical "Do Not Enter" signs are 36 inches by 36 inches or less. "Wrong Way" signs are currently 36 inches by 24 inches.
* Put down reflective tape on ramps to show the correct traffic direction and "get people's attention."
"I'd also put in a sensor and have the wrong-way signs light up when someone is going the wrong way," Mulinazzi said. "But they're probably not going to do that because it's too costly."
The big picture
Johnston said he tries to look at the big picture when considering such issues.
"It's possible for people to go down the wrong way of ramps all across the country," he said, "and it happens from time to time for a variety of reasons.
"What happens typically is people recognize very quickly that they've made a mistake. They fix it themselves and life goes on. It's only a small percent of the time that things deteriorate."
Johnston said the Kansas Turnpike Authority has tried to put its money where it would have the greatest effect on safety. He cited $30 million spent from 1985 to 1991 to put in a concrete median barrier along the turnpike's full length.
Cooner said some wrong-way accidents are next to impossible to prevent, particularly those involving a drunken driver.
"You can have all the bells and whistles in place," he said, "but you still read reports of a wrong-way driver going seven, eight 10 miles. They pass people flashing their lights, maybe even a law enforcement officer with flashing lights trying to intervene.
"They just don't stop. There really isn't much you can do."
Cooner does have advice for those traveling on divided highways late at night.
"Stay in the right lane," he said. "Almost all the wrong-way crashes we've looked at happened in the left lane of the people going the right way."
Indeed, that's exactly where last week's crash on the turnpike happened. The van was in the left lane.
"A wrong-way driver tends to stay to the right," Cooner said. "They're going the wrong way, but they're trying to 'be safe' and stay right.
"It's kind of crazy to think about it from the wrong-way perspective, but that's a pattern that's become obvious."
This story was originally published March 24, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Kansas Turnpike plans no changes after last week’s fatal crash."