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Wrong way drivers

1K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  ronab 
#1 ·
Wrong way drivers on AZ freeways killed 5 people in two incidents in the last few days. I remember from my DPS days that those were among the most terrifying and frustrating calls to try to handle.

Be careful out there.
 
#3 ·
I lost a former co-worker (Mesa PD) earlier this week and now the wreck on I-17.

I think a wrong way refusing to stop should qualify for deadly force and a DPS should be able to attempt to take out the driver with a rifle shot if they can't safely ram it. I know the car will still wreck but hopefully without ramming head on at high speeds into oncoming traffic. Stop Sticks and other spike devices really don't stop a vehicle as it can still be driven on flat tires.

I know it is REAL difficult to stop wrong way drivers as DPS can not follow them the wrong way, as it just compounds the danger to oncoming drivers. Maybe ADOT can put up more electronic signboards to warn driver to exit the freeway, if people will heed the warning.

I think there will be more suicide by vehicles this way.

There have been other fatal wrong way wrecks in the past several years and the frequency seems to be increasing.
 
#4 ·
Stupid question, why not install wrong way spikes in the road like in parking lots? If you put them on the exits then they shouldn't be going so fast as to cause major damage :shrug:
 
#5 ·
A lot of $$$ to install spikes at EVERY off ramp.

Plus a car can still be driven fast with flat tires when the driver doesn't care about damaging the car and wants to kill some one along with their own self.

The Governor needs to make a statement that deadly force will be authorized on wrong way drivers who refuse to stop. And then put some air to ground missiles on the DPS Helicopter....
 
#6 ·
Sad situation with these impaired drivers. A fellow I knew was killed up near Back Canyon City back in the 1980's by a wrong way drunk driver. Drunk had left a bar near BCC and drove north on south bound I-17

back in the late 1970's I worked near Buckeye road and 27 avenue. At the time I road a Yamaha XS-1100. I traveled south on the I-17 from T-bird each morning around 3:30 am

On 3 different occasions I had a wrong way driver coming at me. All 3 were up along side the median wall and only one had headlites on
 
#8 ·
Vehicle intervention, i.e. ramming, is authorized. Rifle, I don't know, could be justifiable. One that I dealt with 30 some years ago was on I-17 northbound in southbound lanes near Carefree highway, at night. Fortunately, in those days, night traffic was much lighter than now. The driver was not drunk, turned out to be a 80 plus year old man trying to get home to Sun City. Even after I got him stopped and talked to him, he did not understand exactly where he was or what was wrong. Sad case. Had his car towed, a deputy took him home to Sun City and I cited him for a re-examination of his driving privilege. MVD is really good about follow-up on those and I'm sure his license was revoked.

Most now seem to be impaired. Embedded spikes in the roadway, activated from the traffic center or by officers in cars would be awesome, but expensive. My neighbor is a DPS officer, worked the last 8 years night shifts. He said it happens several times a week. Very difficult to write a policy on how to handle it. One technique they try to use if they can get far enough out in front of it is to bring traffic to a halt, have the people get out of their cars and away from the roadway. If the wrong way sees the blocked road and stops in time, great. If not, he's hitting empty cars. But very difficult to get any particular plan in place quickly.

Old saying."nothing good happens after midnight."
 
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