More Connecticut drivers died in wrong-way crashes last year than ever before.
That's why the state Department of Transportation is rolling out $40 million in new technology trying to prevent more wrong-way crashes.
Two hundred on-ramps are getting new signs. The signs are activated and light up when a car drives the wrong way down the ramp.
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Instead of the red lights being on top of the sign, the whole outside of the sign will have red lights. The words "wrong way" will be illuminated.
If you don't stop and turn around, the new system will alert state police after a record number of wrong-way crashes last year.
“Virtually every wrong-way driver is found to be impaired by alcohol so we’ll do our part, police will do their part, but we need the public to do their part and that’s to drive sober each and every time," said CT DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan.
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The DOT identified 200 ramps that they are calling "high risk" for how dark they get or their proximity to a bar.
The new signs started as a pilot program in 2022, but in June, the state legislature unanimously voted to do more after State Representative Quentin Williams died in a wrong-way crash.
In total, 23 people died in wrong-way crashes in Connecticut last year. That number was triple from the previous year.
