Overview of Wrong-Way Driving Fatal Crashes in the United States F Baratian-Ghorghi, H Zhou, J Shaw ITE Journal 84 (8), 41-47

1. Overview of Wrong-Way Driving Fatal
Crashes in the United States
F Baratian-Ghorghi, H Zhou, J Shaw
ITE Journal 84 (8), pp: 41-47

2. Overview of Wrong-way Driving Crashes
in the U.S

3. Overview
• Wrong way driving has been a matter of concern since divided roadways have existed.
• FHWA: the problem has not been solved despite several decades of highway striping
and sign improvements.
• Little document can be found on the wrong-way fatal crashes and their characteristics
in the U.S.
• Wrong-way driving data (crashes and fatalities) on divided highways, one-way
trafficways, and entrance/exit ramp

4. Data Collection
FARS :
• A nationwide census of fatal traffic crashes provided by NHTSA
• No nonfatal injury crashes information
• Crashes Involve the death of driver, occupant or a non-occupant within 30 days
• Each state gathers data from various sources, converts them into a common
format and transmits them to NHTSA to complete FARS database

5. Data Analysis
• 8-year crash data (2004-2011) from the FARS database:
• 269 fatal crashes
• 358 fatalities
• each year due to wrong-way driving in the U.S.
• 4 persons die in every 3 WWD fatal crashes

6. WWD Fatal Cras per Year (2004-2011)
1 Texas 38 (14%) 18 North Carolina 5 (2%) 35 Oregon 3 (1%)
2 California 26 (10%) 19 Kansas 5 (2%) 36 Indiana 2 (1%)
3 Florida 16 (6%) 20 New York 5 (2%) 37 Wisconsin 2 (1%)
4 Pennsylvania 11 (4%) 21 Ohio 4 (2%) 38 Idaho 2 (1%)
5 Georgia 11 (4%) 22 South Carolina 4 (2%) 39 Delaware 2 (1%)
6 Missouri 10 (4%) 23 Nevada 4 (1%) 40 Montana 2 (1%)
7 Mississippi 9 (3%) 24 Maryland 4 (1%) 41 Rhode Island 1 (0%)
8 Tennessee 8 (3%) 25 Arkansas 4 (1%) 42 New Mexico 1 (0%)
9 Illinois 8 (3%) 26 Minnesota 4 (1%) 43 Wyoming 1 (0%)
10 Arizona 8 (3%) 27 West Virginia 4 (1%) 44 New Hampshire 1 (0%)
11 Alabama 7 (2%) 28 Colorado 4 (1%) 45 South Dakota 1 (0%)
12 Michigan 6 (2%) 29 Connecticut 4 (1%) 46 Maine 1 (0%)
13 New Jersey 6 (2%) 30 Utah 4 (1%) 47 Vermont 1 (0%)
14 Oklahoma 6 (2%) 31 Iowa 3 (1%) 48 District of Columbia 0 (0%)
15 Washington 6 (2%) 32 Kentucky 3 (1%) 49 North Dakota 0 (0%)
16 Virginia 5 (2%) 33 Massachusetts 3 (1%) 50 Alaska 0 (0%)
17 Louisiana 5 (2%) 34 Hawaii 3 (1%) 51 Nebraska 0 (0%)

7. WWD Fatalities per Year (2004-2011)
1 Texas 52 (14%) 18 New York 7 (2%) 35 Indiana 3 (1%)
2 California 35 (10%) 19 Virginia 7 (2%) 36 Wisconsin 3 (1%)
3 Florida 24 (7%) 20 Kansas 6 (2%) 37 New Mexico 3 (1%)
4 Georgia 14 (4%) 21 Ohio 6 (2%) 38 Idaho 3 (1%)
5 Pennsylvania 14 (4%) 22 West Virginia 5 (2%) 39 Delaware 2 (1%)
6 Missouri 13 (4%) 23 Arkansas 5 (1%) 40 Montana 2 (0%)
7 Illinois 12 (3%) 24 Colorado 5 (1%) 41 Rhode Island 1 (0%)
8 Tennessee 11 (3%) 25 Nevada 5 (1%) 42 Hawaii 1 (0%)
9 Mississippi 11 (3%) 26 Minnesota 5 (1%) 43 Wyoming 1 (0%)
10 Arizona 11 (3%) 27 South Carolina 5 (1%) 44 Maine 1 (0%)
11 Alabama 9 (2%) 28 Maryland 5 (1%) 45 New Hampshire 1 (0%)
12 Michigan 8 (2%) 29 Massachusetts 5 (1%) 46 South Dakota 1 (0%)
13 Oklahoma 8 (2%) 30 Utah 5 (1%) 47 Vermont 1 (0%)
14 Louisiana 7 (2%) 31 Connecticut 4 (1%) 48 North Dakota 0 (0%)
15 New Jersey 7 (2%) 32 Iowa 4 (1%) 49 Alaska 0 (0%)
16 North Carolina 7 (2%) 33 Kentucky 4 (1%) 50 Nebraska 0 (0%)
17 Washington 7 (2%) 34 Oregon 4 (1%) 51 District of Columbia 0 (0%)

8. WWD Fatality Rate (2004-2011)
1 Delaware 1.9 19 Tennessee 1.0 37 New Mexico 0.7
2 Rhode Island 1.8 20 Colorado 1.0 38 New Hampshire 0.7
3 Utah 1.7 21 Pennsylvania 1.0 39 Wyoming 0.6
4 Connecticut 1.6 22 California 1.0 40 South Dakota 0.6
5 Nevada 1.6 23 Georgia 0.9 41 Maine 0.5
6 Texas 1.5 24 U.S 0.9 42 New York 0.5
7 West Virginia 1.4 25 Iowa 0.9 43 North Carolina 0.5
8 Kansas 1.4 26 Hawaii 0.9 44 South Carolina 0.5
9 Mississippi 1.4 27 Oregon 0.9 45 Ohio 0.5
10 Washington 1.4 28 Alabama 0.8 46 Wisconsin 0.5
11 Missouri 1.3 29 Arkansas 0.8 47 Kentucky 0.4
12 Idaho 1.2 30 Louisiana 0.8 48 Indiana 0.4
13 Massachusetts 1.1 31 Vermont 0.8 49 North Dakota 0.2
14 New Jersey 1.1 32 Michigan 0.8 50 Alaska 0.2
15 Oklahoma 1.1 33 Florida 0.8 51 Nebraska 0.1
16 Illinois 1.1 34 Maryland 0.8 52 District of Columbia 0.0
17 Arizona 1.0 35 Virginia 0.8
18 Minnesota 1.0 36 Montana 0.7

9. WWD Fatal Crash Trend
4 %
0.2 %

10. WWD Fatality Trend
1.4 %
4 %