"This extreme stress on the body is most definitely life-threatening, if not fatal," says accident researcher Siegfried Brockmann.
He’s studied wrong-way driving incidents in Germany and has found that in many cases the wrong turn was deliberate.
In one third of the 220 or so cases he investigated, the drivers made a U-turn in moving traffic. Age plays a significant role. In more than 40% of the cases examined, the drivers were older than 75. Senior wrong-way drivers are also predominantly men.
In the case of seniors, Brockmann says, confusion and dementia often play a role, while suicidal intentions or fleeing from the police are common causes among younger offenders. About two-thirds of wrong-way drivers use the left lane from the perspective of right-way drivers.
Brockmann and his team from Germany’s Insurers Accident Research Unit analysed insurers' claims files, police accident information, and media reports about head-on collisions on Germany’s roads since 2015. They found the accidents were caused almost exclusively by the drivers of passenger cars.
Signposts (like the one here in Austria) warning people that they are driving the wrong way have not been able to end the problem of deadly crashes from wrong-way drivers. — dpa
Other findings were that around half of wrong-way trips only last two kilometres before an accident occurs and that the percentage of wrong-way drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol is higher among younger drivers (42%) than seniors (6%).
Brockmann hopes that software can help to fix the problem. "The vehicle would have to brake itself if the software notices that the driver is driving the wrong way onto the highway," he says.
Some countries have special stop signs at on-ramps to warn people that they’re going the wrong way, but these are ineffective in the case of deliberate wrong-way driving or dementia.
Another conceivable solution would be to issue warnings to other drivers that a wrong-way driver is on the road by using in-car software or smartphones. According to Brockmann, there are already a few solutions in this area. Warnings can also be issued on the radio.
The only disadvantage Brockmann sees there is that if warnings of wrong-way drivers are issued too frequently, other drivers will become jaded and no longer take the warnings seriously.
If you come onto a road with a warning of a possible wrong-way driver, the advice is to drive at the edge of the road and not to overtake other drivers. Brockmann also advises drivers to reduce their own speed to a maximum of 80 km per hour. This also warns other drivers, slows them down and reduces the risk of a collision.
Brockmann recommends that people who accidentally drive onto the highway in the wrong direction and realise their mistake should stop on the hard shoulder, turn on the hazard lights and call for help.
