It’s been an especially deadly year for drivers involved in wrong-way crashes on Maine’s interstate highways.
So far in 2023, a total of six people have died in two different crashes caused by vehicles that were driving the wrong way, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.
There was a devastating wrong-way crash Nov. 29 on the Maine Turnpike in Portland, and another one last May on Interstate 295 in Falmouth, which each killed three people. In the May crash, one of the victims was critically injured and died two weeks later.
That’s more deaths from wrong-way crashes than in the previous four years combined: one was reported in each of three recent years — 2019, 2021 and 2022 — and none were reported in 2020, according to data provided by Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the public safety agency.
There have been several other close-calls this year, including two nonfatal crashes around Brunswick and Augusta earlier in the year. And a Portland woman was charged with operating under the influence on Monday after almost hitting a police cruiser while driving the wrong way on Interstate 295 around Falmouth.
It’s not clear whether this year’s uptick represents a new trend in Maine or just an anomaly, but wrong-way traffic fatalities have been trending upwards over the last decade in the U.S.
Across the country, there were an average of 500 deaths annually from wrong-way driving crashes on divided highways between 2015 and 2018, which was up 34 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to the AAA Foundation for Highway Safety. Federal data show that the rate remained similarly elevated in 2019 and 2020, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
There are common factors between many of these crashes.
The AAA Foundation cites numerous reasons that people may drive on the wrong side of the road, with a top one being alcohol impairment. In Maine, Moss noted that all three fatal wrong-way crashes in 2019, 2021 and 2022 involved alcohol.
There’s research suggesting that age could be a factor in different ways. The AAA Foundation has found that people over 70 are more likely to be wrong-way drivers, and research from states such as Iowa, Florida and Illinois shows younger drivers also have increased involvement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Driving between midnight and 6 a.m., and driving without passengers may contribute, as passengers are more likely to alert the driver if they enter the road from the wrong direction.
Some states are taking action to stop it. Rhode Island began installing wrong-way detection systems in 2015 that activate flashing lights when a driver enters an off-ramp, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The number of fatalities dropped to zero at ramps using the system, compared to eight in the six previous years.
Maine doesn’t have any similar systems, but the state’s 2022 Strategic Highway Safety Plan indicates that one strategy is to “Identify locations with high potential for wrong-way crashes, particularly interstate ramps, and mitigate this risk with appropriate countermeasures.”
Wrong-way drivers can often appear out of nowhere, according to Moss, the spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The best ways to avoid wrong-way drivers, Moss said, is to keep distance between you and other vehicles so you have room to act quickly, and move safely out of the way as soon as you spot a wrong-way driver. If you see someone driving on the wrong side of the road, call 911 to report the location to law enforcement to help prevent any potential collisions.
