Overview of Intelligent Transportation System Safety Countermeasures for Wrong-Way Driving

Abstract

Wrong-way driving (WWD) crashes are rare but tend to cause severe injuries and fatalities. When they occur, WWD crashes are mostly head-on and tend to be more severe than any other crash type. Currently, most efforts to mitigate WWD crashes focus on the application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies. Since the mid-1960s, many agencies have proposed and tested a variety of countermeasures ranging from the conventional, including improvements in signage and pavement markings, to the more advanced, based mainly on ITS. The application of ITS in detecting and deterring WWD crashes involves a combination of several components, such as detection, warning, and action. The main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of ITS technologies implemented by different transportation agencies in the mitigation and prevention of WWD crashes. This study proves the importance of ITS technologies that have seen widespread application in recent years. Moreover, according to the evaluation studies of different ITS-related countermeasures, it shows that the countermeasures deployed have been effective in detecting wrong-way drivers and reducing the rate of wrong-way incidents. The results will provide insights for policymakers, engineers, and researchers into the application of ITS for reducing the severity and frequency of WWD crashes and other incidents on highway facilities.