Carson City gets wrong way driver detection systems

Brief overnight ramp and shoulder closures will take place on Interstate 580 in Carson City through August as the Nevada Department of Transportation installs and activates new wrong-way driver detection systems.

Intermittent shoulder closures will take place during both day and night hours on I-580 freeway ramps between North Carson Street and Fairview Drive.

Periodic overnight ramp closures will also take place on I-580 Carson City ramps during the last two weeks of August from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday evenings through Friday mornings. No two consecutive ramps will be closed at the same time, and posted detours will be available.

The road work schedule is subject to change.

NDOT currently places “Wrong Way” signs on all freeway off ramps to notify drivers errantly entering in the wrong direction. In addition to these existing signs, NDOT will install wrong-way driver detection systems on the following five I-580 off ramps in Carson City:

• Fairview Drive – northbound and southbound off ramps

• U.S. 50 – northbound and southbound off ramps

• East College Parkway – northbound and southbound off ramps

• Arrowhead Drive – northbound off ramp

• North Carson Street – southbound off ramp

The system uses radar and closed-circuit cameras to automatically detect vehicles entering in the wrong direction, activating two sets of red flashing wrong-way signs on the ramp. The first set of signs stands four feet high instead of the standard seven-foot sign height to more readily reach the lower eye level of sleepy or impaired drivers and serve as a highly-visible indication to stop drivers from entering the wrong way. The Carson City locations will be installed upon existing infrastructure proactively installed as part of Carson City Freeway construction.

Between 2014 and 2018, there were an average of 27 crashes and over 90 citations per year associated with wrong-way crashes in Nevada.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that there were 3,885 deaths resulting from wrong-way crashes between 2010 and 2018 across the U.S., with over half of those killed being the wrong-way driver.

On the leading edge of state DOTs testing wrong-way driver detection systems, NDOT recently completed a study of wrong-way driver alert systems.

As part of the study, NDOT installed 37 wrong-way driver detection systems in the state, including on U.S. 395 in the North Valleys. The study shows that 84 percent of wrong-way vehicles detected safely turned around before entering the freeway.

NDOT is also proactively identifying additional interchange off-ramps throughout the state for potential future wrong-way driver detection systems.

DRIVING SAFETY TIPS

While wrong-way drivers often drive unpredictably, motorists can help increase their chances of staying safe by

driving attentively:

• Buckle up.

• Never drive while impaired or extremely sleepy. Do not allow those you know to drive impaired or sleepy.

• Drive attentively. Continually scan the road ahead.

• Do not tailgate. Leave enough space so you have time to react if the vehicle in front of you changes lanes suddenly to avoid a wrong-way driver.

• Stay right at night. The largest number of wrong-way crashes occur at night. Be aware that wrong-way drivers frequently travel in the left, or fast, lane. Because they are driving in the wrong direction, they believe they are actually traveling in the slow lane in an effort to avoid being stopped for speeding.

• If you encounter a wrong-way driver coming toward you, ease your foot off the gas to slow down. After looking to avoid other vehicles next to and behind you, steer away from the wrong-way driver. Dial 911 or *NHP to report the driver once safely off the road and away from the path of the wrong-way vehicle.

• If there is opportunity to do so, flashing your vehicle lights or honking your car horn could alert the wrong-way driver to stop and safely reroute

Additional state highway information is available at dot.nv.gov or by calling 775-888-7000. Also follow @NevadaDOTReno on Twitter for traffic and project updates in northern Nevada, and @nevadadot on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates from across the state.