Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Wrong-way drivers kill about 500 people every year in the United States and authorities say that number is rising.
On Thanksgiving morning, a wrong-way driver on Route 95 in Newbury killed 49-year-old Jeremy Cole, an Endicott College campus police sergeant. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
The wrong-way driver, recovering from serious injuries, is now facing charges that include motor vehicle homicide while driving under the influence.
Massachusetts is joining a growing number of states including New Hampshire to develop new technologies to prevent wrong-way drivers.
An increasing amount of fatalities in these cases is attributed to a combination of impaired driving, complicated and confusing road signage, and poorly maintained roadways.
One driver tells WBZ NewsRadio he can understand how someone can wind up driving the wrong way.
"When you come off the highway up there on 128 south, there's a wrong-way sign that's been on the ground for almost two years," he said.
Another driver said he thinks inattentive drivers and a language barrier causes many wrong way crashes.
"You know, it's important to know that those things are happening," he said.
Last year, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation installed a wrong-way detection system at more than a dozen locations across the state. A new commission has been formed in New Hampshire to develop and test similar technologies.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chris Fama (@CFamaWBZ) reports.
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