SAN DIEGO — Caltrans has installed new ‘Advanced Detection & Notification Systems’ for wrong way drivers on three I-5 off-ramps in San Ysidro.
CBS 8 was given a inside look at a wrong way driver simulation on the Camino de la Plaza I-5 off-ramp near the U.S./Mexico border, as Caltrans calibrated the new infrared thermal detection system.
“When a wrong way driver drives through and breaches through an exit ramp, the LED-bordered signs will be activated and that’ll indicate that they’re going the wrong way,” said Erwin Gojuangco, District Chief of Traffic Safety & Operations for Caltrans. “It’s detected with that infrared thermal detection system, so once it’s detected, it activates a notification system.”
A message is then sent to their Transportation Management Center, notifying Caltrans and California Highway Patrol about the wrong way driver.
“They will get a message that there has been a wrong way event that occurred and then it sends out imagery of what the video captured, vehicles going the wrong way,” said Gojuangco.
These specialized detection systems have been installed at three I-5 exit ramps near the border including Camino de la Plaza, Via de San Ysidro, and Dairy Mart Road.
Two more are planned for Sea World Drive and Interstate-8, and a few more will be installed in North County.
“Those are being applied at specific ramps that are the most problematic and where we experience a high number of wrong way crashes,” said Gojuangco.
As part of a larger campaign, Caltrans allocated nearly $9 million toward prevention upgrades on highway ramps throughout San Diego County including enhanced wrong way signage and red, reflective pavement markers visible to drivers going the wrong way.
“With wrong way driving, when these crashes do occur, they’re very tragic. They’re going at high speeds, so you can see that can lead to devastating impacts,” said Gojuangco. “If we can employ any type of counter-measures to help prevent that, that would be the hope, right?”
In California, an average of 37 people are killed each year in wrong way crashes according to AAA.
For more information on the CALTRANS Wrong Way Driver Prevention Campaign in San Diego County, you can visit their website HERE.
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