State House Votes to Expand Wrong-Way Driver Prevention System

Lawmakers took a step forward to help prevent wrong-way crashes.

“This has been a difficult year for a lot of us,” said Rep. Roland LeMar (D–New Haven).

Months after the death of State Rep. Quentin Williams after colliding with a wrong-way driver lawmakers in the House unanimously passed a bill to help prevent these dangerous situations.

“It hit home hard for us when we lost our beloved colleague Representative Williams. But it hit home for me hard back in 2019 when I lost a close friend of mine,” said Rep. Bobby Gibson (D–Bloomfield).

The state Department of Transportation says 23 people died in 13 wrong-way crashes last year.

Among the measures in the bill will be expanding a wrong-way driving detection and notification system at what are considered high risk highway ramps.

“We have a scoring sheet. Is the ramp, you know, within a quarter mile of a bar or restaurant or place that's serving alcohol? Is the on ramp, off ramp directly adjacent to each other? How much illumination is out there?” said Josh Morgan, DOT spokesperson.

The state Department of Transportation has already started a pilot program.

Since a demonstration of the technology in Southington last year, the DOT says the flashing lights being activated has led to wrong-way drivers turning around.

“We know these are effective, and why we're going to continue building them out,” said Morgan.

The bill calls to roll out the system at 120 more exit ramps, as well as studying adding rumble strips.

There will also be an educational campaign, with most wrong-way drivers being impaired.

“We need to get to where we are going and then we need to get back home. And we know in our own house here that wasn’t the case this year,” said Rep. Kathy Kennedy (R–Milford).

The state has identified 236 ramps that are considered high risk. The bill has more steps to go before becoming law and to pay for it, there’s already $20 million that was previously set aside for this issue.