Fatal Crash on I-65 Caused by Wrong-Way Driver in Baldwin County, Alabama

BALDWIN COUNTY, AL- Wrbl.com writes that a severe accident caused four deaths on Interstate 65 over the weekend. The two-vehicle collision occurred at about 5:30 in the evening. Reports indicate it was caused by a wrong-way driver.*

Wrong-way crashes are accidents involving one vehicle traveling against the legal flow of traffic on a divided high-speed highway or an access ramp. 

These crashes are not common, but when they take place, they are often deadly. Only about 3 percent of crashes on divided highways are wrong-way accidents. When these incidents do happen, the likelihood of death is somewhere between 12 and 27 times greater than the risk in other types of crashes. 

Statistically, these accidents are more common on weekends and at night, especially between the hours of 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. Drivers who cause wrong-way crashes typically do so because they entered a highway on an exit ramp instead of on an entrance ramp. 

Studies have indicated that the wrong-way driver is more likely to be unlicensed and under the influence of alcohol than are other drivers involved in crashes. Alcohol is about two times as likely to be a contributing factor in a wrong-way crash as it is in other fatal wrecks. 

When vehicles are traveling towards one another, the forces involved are often deadly. On a high-speed highway, it is no surprise that a head-on collision would be potentially deadly, but even at much lower speeds head-on crashes are often fatal. In fact, the chances of surviving a head-on crash drop significantly at just 43 miles per hour. Safety experts state that to avoid dying in a head-on crash, its best to stay off roads that are undivided and that have speed limits of more than 40 miles per hour. 

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 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.

Source:https://www.wrbl.com/news/alea-wrong-way-driver-causes-fatal-crash-on-i-65-sb-at-rabun-exit/