HOUSTON – Just in the last three weeks, there have been horrific crashes on Houston-area highways, all caused by wrong way drivers. Three people have died, all innocent victims of someone else's mistakes. Wrong-way crashes are so dangerous that local agencies are now spending a lot of money to prevent them from happening.
Eliselda Martinez, 22, and Allison Gallegos, 23, were killed instantly earlier this month when a suspected drunk driver got on the North Loop going the wrong way. He slammed into their car head on.
Five days later, another young life ended in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 10 in Baytown. Ruben Zambrano, 22, was killed by a suspected drunk driver traveling west in the eastbound lanes.
Wrong-way crashes are among the most dangerous and most deadly traffic hazards. That's why in 2008, the Harris County Toll Road Authority launched an aggressive wrong-way driver detection program. Warning signs with LED lights and reflectors are the first line of defense at exit ramps. If a wrong-way driver isn't stopped by those, sensors will trigger a response in the toll road's control room.
"A radar system will detect a vehicle going in the wrong direction and it will send a signal to our incident management center and alert the dispatchers, who immediately notify law enforcement," said HCTRA Incident Management Capt. Calvin Harvey.
Cameras in the incident command center then automatically shift to the provide a view of the car's path. Next, electronic signs along the Toll Road change, telling other drivers in the area to pull over and stop. And finally, officers position themselves to set up spike strips to stop the wrong way vehicle.
System has detected 179 wrong way incidents since 2008. Most of those drivers -- 129 in all -- turned around once they saw the warning lights. Officers were able to stop 27 drivers who kept going. Most of them were reportedly drunk.
The system cost $350,000 when it was launched. There are now plans to expand the LED warning signs in the next few months.
"We've already put them on the Katy-managed lanes at Post Oak. We're also going to expand them to the Hardy Toll Road at the exits," Harvey said.
The Texas Department of Transportation is studying similar technology in San Antonio, but right now there are no plans to expand it to major highways like I-10, 610 or Interstate 45.
The new LED warning signs on the Hardy Toll Road should be in place by the end of March.