Wrong Way Drivers Causing A Rash of Traffic Fatalities In Dallas And Austin

Brooks Schuelke

Contributor

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

It's one of those things that's almost too bizarre to be true. This weekend, four people were killed in a wreck caused by a wrong way driver on the Dallas North Tollway. The wreck occurred despite Department of Public Safety officers trying to stop the driver. You can see footage courtesy of Austin's KVUE.

But the amazing this is that this is not an isolated incident. In fact, the Dallas North Tollway seems to be a magnet for wrong way drivers and fatalities. On June 1, two people were killed on the Dallas North Tollway by a wrong way driver. In May, a teenager was killed on the Dallas North Tollway by another wrong way driver, and there was another wrong way wreck on the Dallas North Tollway in April. And the most recent of the rash of wrecks occurred when a wrong way driver resulted in one fatality and several other injuries in October 2008.

But wrong way wrecks aren't limited to the Dallas North Tollway; Austin has experienced its own problems with wrong way drivers. Earlier this month, a wreck caused by a wrong way driver killed a man in Austin, and in April 2008, a wrong way driver killed two people in a collision on I-35.

So these types of wrecks are more common that we would think. But what's the cause and what can we do about them? I'll try to post on those two questions later in the week.

Until then, you might check out these related Injuryboard links:

• Interstate Highway Safety --- Ghost Drivers Continue To Be A Problem On US Highways (from Des Moines personal injury lawyer Steve Lombardi)
• Driver Safety: Wrong Way Drivers Not As Uncommon As You Think (Lombardi)
• Wrong Way Drivers Cause 3% of Highway Deaths (from Honolulu personal injury lawyer Wayne Parsons)
• Merchants of Interstate Death: Wrong Way Drivers Usually Drugged or Drunk (from Virginia personal injury lawyer Rick Shapiro)