GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A woman is dead after driving the wrong way on I-40 in Guildford County on Thursday.
A driver coming straight at you on the roadway is a terrifying situation. 2 Wants To Know what you should do if you ever come across a wrong-way driver.
Greensboro Police Officer A.D. Reed recommends the following if you encounter a wrong-way driver:
- Try to pull over to the shoulder
- Try flashing from low beam lights to high beam lights to alert the wrong-way driver
- Try honking the horn
- Call 911 as soon as it’s safe
“Try to give us a location,” Reed said. “Just saying you’re on I-85, that’s a long road or I-40. We don’t know exactly where you are on that road. So, if you can try to give us a mile marker, give us a description of the car, anything that can help us.”
Reed works in the Crash Reconstruction Unit. In 11 years, he said his unit has worked several fatal or serious injury crashes caused by wrong-way drivers. He said his office receives calls daily about motorists driving in the wrong direction.
“We do see that happen quite often,” Reed said. “Unfortunately, by the time we get out there, if there hasn’t been a wreck, or anything else, we may not find that person going the wrong way once we get out there. Sometimes it’s just someone who made an improper turn or started going the wrong way on a one-way street downtown.”
According to AAA, NCDOT reported 164 deaths from 2000 to 2017 due to wrong-way drivers. Officer Reed said in many cases, impairment is a contributing factor to someone driving the wrong way.