Wrong-Way Crash Injures Six on Interstate 277 Close to Charlotte, North Carolina (NC)
CHARLOTTE, NC- Wbtv.com writes that a crash occurred this week in Charlotte that left six people with injuries. The incident occurred on Interstate 277 and involved an ambulance. The incident occurred in the middle of the night.*
Reports state that the ambulance was heading inbound when the wrong-way driver collided head-on with the emergency vehicle. Two of the medics suffered injuries are were transported to the hospital. There were four people in the car that was driving the wrong way. All of those individuals were severely hurt in the wreck and were transported to the hospital. The ambulance was not transporting any patients at the time of the collision. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
Wrong-way crashes are severe wrecks that are fortunately not common. A great deal of planning and effort goes into avoiding situations where a driver may accidentally enter a divided roadway traveling against the flow of traffic. The way these incidents tend to occur is that a driver enters the highway on an offramp. Given the signage and design of the road in these locations, most people do not make such a big mistake. Thanks to preventative measures, these crashes kill about 300 to 400 people a year, which is only about one percent of all crash deaths.
When wrong-way crashes do take place, they are extremely severe, given that they involve a head-on impact on a road where the speed limits are typically high. Studies show that the drivers who do enter the road heading the wrong way on divided highways are often drunk or on drugs at the time. Such impaired motorists appear to be more inclined to make the mistake of entering an interstate on an exit ramp than are sober motorists.
Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes. To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or a family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.
Sources:
https://www.wbtv.com/2020/08/31/six-injured-wrong-way-crash-involving-ambulance-i-/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25793548/
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/other_topics/wwd/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20WWD,related%20fatalities%20that%20occur%20annually.