WPRI reports, in 2015, Rhode Island DOT began installing wrong-way driving deterrent, detection and warning systems that currently cost about $75,000 at 29 of the states 400 highway offramps. “Data from RIDOT shows in the seven years before the equipment was installed, there were 91 wrong-way drivers, with 34 crashes and 13 fatalities. In the seven years since they were activated . . . , there has been one crash and zero fatalities at ramps equipped with the system. At ramps without the detection technology, there have been five crashes and one fatality during that same time period.” RIDOT safety engineer Steven Pristawa tells WPRI the warning systems detect four to five wrong-way driving incidents each month. “These devices have helped,” he said. “When I see a wrong-way driver correcting — there is a good chance we just saved a life.”
