WASHINGTON — Washington state is experiencing a significant rise in wrong-way driving incidents, with fatalities nearly quadrupling over the past decade. To combat this, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is making some changes.
From 2020 to 2025, the Washington State Patrol responded to 57 fatal wrong-way crashes and over 8,300 reports of vehicles driving the wrong way.
This upward trend has prompted the implementation of a new wrong-way detection system to prevent such incidents, according to WSDOT.
Wrong-way driving accounts for about 4% of all traffic deaths in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
However, in Washington state and Maine, this rate was 8% from 2004 to 2025, which is twice the national average.
In 2014, Washington recorded seven wrong-way fatalities, but by 2023, this number had increased to 28, marking a nearly 300% rise in less than ten years.
The newly introduced wrong-way detection system uses a combination of sensors and cameras to identify vehicles entering ramps or lanes in the wrong direction.
Flashing lights on signs alert drivers in real-time, allowing them to correct their course.
Simultaneously, the system notifies the traffic management center, which can alert other drivers and law enforcement.
The introduction of the wrong-way detection system aims to reduce the number of wrong-way driving incidents and improve road safety in Washington state.
As these systems are deployed, authorities hope to see a decrease in both incidents and fatalities.
Along with those features, WSDOT has installed wrong-way detection systems along highway on-ramps at 10 locations. The agency picked these locations by looking at crash data, input from WSP and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission:
- Four systems on State Route 18 in King County.
- Two systems on Interstate 5 in Thurston County.
- Three systems on I-5 and one at the I-5 and SR 14 interchange in Clark County.
WSDOT has also upgraded pavement markings ast 108 locations and installed more than 1,000 new signs.
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