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Question: What should you do when you are driving on an interstate and a car is coming at you from the wrong direction?
MANSFIELD — The question was undoubtedly triggered by a March 31 fatal accident on I-71 in Morrow County, a wreck involving a wrong-way driver that killed four people.
The accident occurred at 2:28 a.m., according to the Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, with one of the vehicles traveling the wrong way on the six-lane interstate in Franklin Township, south of Richland County.
According to troopers, Larry A. Dotson, 32, of Canton, was driving a 2020 Hyundai Tucson northbound on Interstate 71 in the southbound lanes, colliding head-on with another vehicle. Dotson was one of the four people who died in the crash.
According to Lt. Jason Murfield, commander of the OSHP Mansfield Post, a wrong-way motorist on a highway happens more often then people may imagine.
“It happens more often than people think, because we don’t report it (to the media) every time we get a call that someone is headed the wrong way,” Murfield said.
“We have probably had it a couple of times around here in the last month … sometimes it’s as simple as someone misreading the signs.
“Sometimes we are notified of a driver going the wrong way and by the time we get there, the person has corrected their mistake and is already gone,” he said.
(Below is a TV news report of the March 31 crash in Morrow County, just south of Richland County. It includes bodycam video from a state trooper arriving on the scene.)
So what should a motorist do when he/she observes a driver headed the wrong way?
Though it can happen quickly, potential solutions involve a little bit of defensive driving and usage of the cell phone everyone carries today.
Murfield first recommended drivers should do their best to avoid the oncoming driver, pull off the side of the highway and turn on their emergency flashers, which could alert people coming behind them of the potential hazard.
“They then need to immediately call 9-1-1 to notify law enforcement agencies, so we can remove the person from the road or get them turned in the right direction,” Murfield said.
The lieutenant recommended against any motorists trying to stop or re-direct a wrong-way driver, which could “put themselves in harm’s way.”
“Just make sure you are safe and notify law enforcement to intervene,” Murfield said.
What if a motorist makes the mistake and finds themselves headed the wrong way on the interstate?
“If that happens, slow down safely and pull over to the berm as far as you can,” Murfield said. “Turn off your headlights, which could be blinding to oncoming drivers.
“Turn on your hazard lights and call 9-1-1 so we can send a trooper, a deputy or a police officer to help guide traffic while we get you turned around,” the lieutenant said.
A simple mistake, especially if noticed quickly, may not result in a traffic citation.
“I can’t speak to every incident. We would use common sense with the information provided to us,” Murfield said.
He said some onramps and roads are marked better than others and mistakes can and do happen, even with non-impaired drivers.
“It may depend on how far the (wrong-way) driver went. If it’s somebody under the influence and has already traveled several miles down the road, it would warrant more enforcment action on our part,” Murfield said.
“It’s by no means more prevalent among impaired drivers. It can happen to anyone.”