HARTFORD, Conn. — Gov. Ned Lamont has signed legislation into law directing the Connecticut Department of Transportation to install wrong-way driving alert systems on at least 120 additional highway exit ramps on Tuesday.
The driving alert systems will be installed by what exit ramps are identified as high risk.
These alert systems made their debut in 2020 and have continued to expand throughout the state.
The alert system uses cameras to detect a driver entering from the wrong direction. When detected, bright red LED lights are flashed to let the driver know they are going the wrong way.
Future installations will add the ability to notify Connecticut State Police in real time.
“It is shocking how quickly the number of wrong-way driving incidents has accelerated over these last couple of years, and we need to do more to prevent them,” Lamont said in a statement. “Reversing this trend requires a comprehensive approach that not only involves infrastructure upgrades using advanced technology, but also requires a heightened awareness by drivers every single time they are entering a highway. This is an issue that we cannot take lightly, and we must continue researching new and emerging methods of preventing wrong-way driving incidents.”
The legislation also directs UConn to begin testing the use of directional rumble strips that alert drivers through vibration and sound when driving the wrong way and directs CTDOT to pilot the use of variable electronic message signs along the highway to alert motorists of a potential wrong-way driver, according to a statement.
An analysis was conducted by the DOT on more than 700 ramps throughout the state, where on-ramps and off-ramps are located on the same side of the roadway near establishments that serve alcohol or lack illumination is included in 236 high-risk locations.
"Wrong-way driving crashes in Connecticut tripled in 2022. This includes 13 wrong-way crashes that resulted in 23 deaths, compared to four wrong-way crashes in 2021 and two in 2020. Studies have shown that wrong-way driving crashes are 100 times more likely to be fatal than other types of crashes. In Connecticut in 2022, more than 80% of wrong-way drivers were found to be impaired," according to a statement from the governor's office.
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