Wrong-way detection systems continue to roll out across the state in hot spots for wrong-way drivers.
This weekend, another driver was killed in a wrong-way crash in Waterbury, bringing the total to 13 wrong-way crash deaths this year.
“Just a usual commute back home, just getting dark,” Mark Vecchitto said of his commute from work a week ago.
He was driving along Interstate 95 around the Westbrook-Old Saybrook line when he experienced something he could only describe as terrifying.
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“At first I couldn’t process what was going on, like 'why are headlights coming at me?' And then I realized, this is a wrong-way driver,” Vecchitto said.
He came extremely close to a head-on collision, only avoiding the oncoming car thanks to a trucker in the lane next to him who let him move over.
“This guy went right by my passenger window I mean, wow…reaction was like, 'you don’t even know…' I couldn’t even process what was going on, 'why am I looking at headlights?'” he said.
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According to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, wrong-way systems are working, but activating weekly in over 80 locations across the state.
“It’s sort of the Saturday morning or Sunday morning routine, I pull up the email and see what the notifications are from the night before,” Josh Morgan, spokesperson for the CT DOT, said.
He said since they started installing the systems in October of 2023, they have activated a total of 125 times. That averages out to just under two and a half per week.
So far in 2024, 13 people have been killed in a total of six wrong-way crashes. In 2023, there were a total of seven deaths in five crashes. Going back to 2015, there were 23 deaths in 13 crashes.
“The lights are going to activate and flash and at the same time the DOT operations center and state police are getting an alert,” Morgan said of the technology designed to curb these crashes.
Morgan said the majority of drivers never make it to the highway; they turn around when the lights are activated, and state police typically arrive in minutes when the system is activated.
That’s good news for roadway safety, but they can’t stop everyone.
“Sometimes the driver will be allegedly impaired and continue on the highway despite the system lights flashing,” Morgan said.
He went on to say impairment is the typical cause for these wrong-way activations and crashes, with weather sometimes playing into the confusion.
Morgan adds that the best thing drivers can do to keep these crashes from happening, is follow the law. Stop driving distracted, slow down and never drive impaired.
And for people like Vecchitto, who now has firsthand experience with a wrong-way driver, the ask of other drivers is simple.
“It’s just pay attention, it's basic knowledge, pay attention while you’re driving, man,” he said.
According to the DOT, there is funding in place to install 230 wrong-way detection systems statewide in the areas data suggests are most prone to wrong-way drivers. There are over 700 ramps on the state’s highways, according to DOT.
