WRONG-WAY DRIVING

THE ANALYSIS IS REPORTED OF WRONG-WAY DRIVING ACCIDENTS OVER A PERIOD OF FOUR YEARS IN MISSOURI. A TOTAL OF 61 PER CENT OF THE WRONG-WAY ACCIDENTS WERE CAUSED BY OFFENDERS WHO WERE EITHER INTOXICATED OR INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO TAKE A SHORTCUT. ANOTHER 37 PER CENT OF THE DRIVERS SAID THEY WERE CONFUSED AND ONLY TWO PER CENT BLAMED INADEQUATE SIGNING. THE SURVEY NOTED A "DRAMATIC DECREASE" IN WRONG-WAY DRIVING ACCIDENTS SINCE UNIFORM STANDARDS WERE INITIATED IN 1967. THE NOTED DECREASE CORRESPONDS TO A CHANGE IN STANDARD SIGNING IN 1967. AT THAT TIME A RED "WRONG WAY" SIGN WAS MADE STANDARD TO BE PLACED BELOW THE ALREADY STANDARD WHITE IN BLACK "DO NOT ENTER" SIGN. FIGURES FOR THE FOUR YEARS ON DRIVERS INTERCEPTED BY THE HIGHWAY PATROL WHILE MAKING WRONG-WAY MOVEMENTS ARE: 1966, 247; 1967, 239; 1968, 148; AND 1963, 1143. THERE WERE 35 WRONG WAY DRIVING ACCIDENTS DURING THE FIRST TEN MONTHS OF 1969, FIVE OF THEM FATAL ACCIDENTS IN WHICH EIGHT PEOPLE WERE KILLED. DURING THE SAME TEN MONTH PERIOD, THERE WERE 40,390 ACCIDENTS AND 926 FATALITIES ON MISSOURI HIGHWAYS. THIS MEANS THE .09% OF ALL ACCIDENTS AND 9.% OF ALL FATALITIES WERE CAUSED BY WRONG WAY DRIVERS. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 42 Pp, 1 TaB, 33 FIG
• Corporate Authors:

  Missouri State Highway Commission

  State Highway Building
  Jefferson City, MO  United States  65101
• Publication Date: 1970-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash rates; Drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Legibility; Traffic crashes; Traffic signs; Wrong way driving
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220962
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 9 1970 12:00AM