Wrong-way alert system on Westpark Tollway failed before deadly crash, officials say

HOUSTON – If you find yourself driving the wrong way on the Westpark Tollway, dispatchers are supposed to hear, "Wrong-way driver detected."

But that never happened at 12:45 a.m. Saturday on the Eldridge Parkway exit. The alert system failed to work when a wrong-way driver caused a head-on collision with another vehicle, officials said.

Precinct 5 officials said Jose Manases Vilche, 23, was driving east in the westbound lanes when his vehicle collided with a truck head-on.

"We don't think it would have been helpful to us because the crash happened at the top of the ramp and we wouldn't have had time to respond to it anyway," said Calvin Harvey, an assistant chief for Harris County Toll Road Authority Incident Management.

The other driver was taken to the hospital with critical internal injuries.

HCTRA officials said the "Do Not Enter" and "Wrong Way" blinking lights were working at the time and they said they don't know why Vilche ignored the flashing warning.

Officials said Vilche died upon impact.

"Unfortunately this is the first fatality since the system's been in place," Harvey said.

 From the year 2008 to 2015, about 129 drivers turned around once they saw the warning lights, according to the HCTRA. Additionally, officers stopped 27 drivers who kept going by using spike strips.

However, most would agree losing one life is far too many.

"The fatality victim was probably not impaired but we do suspect the driver, the vehicle that was going in the right direction, could possibly be impaired," Harvey said.

Officials said they are waiting on toxicology reports to determine if either driver was under-the-influence at the time of the crash.

Vilche's family released this statement on GoFundMe page:

"On Feb. 18, 2017, we lost a brother, a son, a friend, and an amazing human being. Jose Vilche lived by one of his most favorite mottos: 'smile more.' He will always be loved and remembered for the amazing person he was."

HCTRA officials said they physically check the warning system the first or second Tuesday of each month by driving a car past the censors. On a weekly basis, they conduct communication and device testing over the network.

The HCTRA plans to send maintenance workers to the Eldridge Parkway exit off the Westpark Tollway to find why the system failed.