LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) -After another deadly wrong-way crash over the weekend, NDOT tells FOX5 some new wrong-way driver warning systems should be operational in three valley locations soon: Skye and Kyle Canyons on U.S. 95 and Starr Avenue on I-15.
“Realistically, I’d say we’re looking to get the system fully operational by January next year, 2024,” said NDOT Spokesperson Justin Hopkins.
Hopkins says a contractor is in the final stages of calibrating and testing the warning signs at those locations. A fourth location is currently functional, at Durango and U.S. 95, near a wrong-way crash this weekend that killed three people, including a three-year-old girl. It is unknown where the driver entered the highway going the wrong way.
If someone begins to go the wrong way on a highway, warning signs will flash. The hope is the driver will immediately turn around.
NDOT says it has seen a high number of cars turn around as part of a pilot program, with many systems in northern Nevada. NDOT says catching the drivers before they get on a highway is key to stopping them. But if they don’t turn around, the system then alerts a traffic management center, and a dispatcher can quickly get that information to law enforcement in the field to help intercept the wrong-way driver.
NDOT is currently working to identify more locations for the wrong-way warning system. Future goals include motorists being warned of a wrong-way driver on electronic signs along highways and possibly a phone app.
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