Wrong-way accidents can happen for a variety of reasons. A young driver may get confused about which direction they are supposed to be traveling or which road to use, especially in a new setting. A driver using a GPS without updated software could be told to turn the wrong way and follow the GPS directions, rather than reading the road signage.
But studies find that most wrong-way accidents are caused by alcohol intoxication. Impaired drivers are the ones who tend to cause these serious crashes.
In many cases, these accidents happen on the interstate and late at night. A driver may enter a relatively empty interstate due to the late hour, not realizing that they are traveling in the wrong direction until they encounter oncoming vehicles and cause an accident. Their impairment is why they take the wrong ramp and fail to see the wrong-way signs.
How can you stay safe?
If you see a wrong-way driver, do not try to stop their vehicle. Instead, try to stay out of their way. You can consider flashing your lights and honking your horn to get their attention, but your priority should be moving onto the shoulder and avoiding an accident. Then you can contact the authorities and alert them to the situation so that the police can hopefully stop the driver before a crash.
Unfortunately, some of these accidents happen with very little warning, so you could suffer injuries in a crash caused by another driver. If that happens, you need to know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other losses.