WWD

144 Int. J. Engineering Management and Economics, Vol. 5, Nos. 3/4, 2015

Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Wrong-way driving on Florida toll roads: an investigation into multiple incident parametersand targeted countermeasures for reductions

John H. Rogers Jr.*, Haitham Al-Deek,Ahmad Alomari, Frank A. Consoli and Adrian Sandt Department of Civil, Environmental & Construction Engineering, University of Central Florida, 12800 Pegasus Drive, Suite 211, P.O. Box 162450, Orlando Fl 32816-2450, USA Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] *Corresponding author

Abstract: Wrong-way driving (WWD) on toll roads is a driving behaviour that has not been fully studied in Florida. In order to combat these WWD events and develop appropriate countermeasures, it is very important to understand the accurate frequency and distribution of these WWD incidents on Central Florida’s Toll Road System. This analysis includes an investigation of WWD crash reports, citations, 911 calls, and a customer survey. The main focus of this study is to identify WWD ‘hot spots’ to determine if additional countermeasures are needed to combat WWD.

Keywords: WWD; wrong-way driving; systematic evaluation for safety; driver behaviour and traffic control.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Rogers, J.H., Al-Deek, H., Alomari, A., Consoli, F.A. and Sandt, A. (2015) ‘Wrong-way driving on Florida toll roads: an investigation into multiple incident parameters and targeted countermeasures for reductions’, Int. J. Engineering Management and Economics, Vol. 5, Nos. 3/4, pp.144–168.

Biographical notes: John H. Rogers Jr., PE is currently a UCF PhD candidate pursuing a dissertation in the area of Wrong-Way Driving. He obtained a BS in Civil Engineering from Clemson University in 2005, an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Central Florida in 2007, and a SAS Data Mining Graduate Certificate from the University of Central Florida in 2010. He currently works as a Transportation Project Manager for the City of Orlando and is the currently appointed chairperson of the Orange County Community Traffic Safety Team.

Haitham Al-Deek, PhD, PE, has more than 27 years of experience in transportation engineering, planning, and operations. He is nationally recognised in his field and received two Chairman Awards from the National Research Council-Transportation Research Board (TRB) for his significant

Wrong-way driving on Florida toll roads: an investigation 145

contributions to the fields of Freeway Operations, and Regional Transportation Systems Management and Operations in January 2012. He also received the best TRB freeway operations paper award in 2010, which was about the impact of Dynamic Message Signs on OOCEA drivers. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991. He was the Principal (or co-Principal) Investigator of close to 60 applied research projects at UCF and elsewhere. He has published more than 275 papers and technical reports in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and nearly half of these publications are related to traffic operations.

Ahmad Alomari, PhD candidate, is currently a graduate research assistant at the University of Central Florida. His background includes over three years of industry experience with the private sector as a traffic engineer and transportation planner. He has experience in traffic engineering and transportation planning studies including but not limited to the following: analysis and design of intersections/interchanges, traffic impact studies, road safety audit, and development of public transportation studies.

Frank A. Consoli, PhD PE, LEED AP, is currently the City of Orlando’s Traffic Operations Engineer. His background includes over 31 years as an engineer with over 12 years with the Florida Department of Transportation, the last seven years with the City of Orlando and the remainder as CEI consultant on various construction projects throughout the state of Florida. He presented a research paper on smart event traffic management in Orlando regional transportation network at the 2013 Transportation Research Board (TRB) annual meeting in Washington, DC. Currently, he recently graduate with doctorate at UCF in Civil Engineering.

Adrian Sandt, PhD graduate student Researcher, recently graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Central Florida. His research focuses are wrong way driving data analysis and survey designs.

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Wrong-way driving incidents on central florida toll road network, Phase-1 study: an investigation into the extent of this problem?’ presented at The Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Orlando, Florida, USA, 10 June, 2014.

1 Introduction

Wrong-way driving (WWD) is a hazardous result of driver error/behaviour especially if it occurs on high-speed roadways, such as limited access facilities. WWD can result in head-on collisions on the mainlines of limited access facilities; these collisions often cause severe injuries and even fatalities. The contributing causes for WWD driver error can vary and include driver intoxication and confusion. Typically, these crash occurrences are documented and recorded by law enforcement officers (LEOs) and are available to engineering staff to later evaluate for safety analysis.

There are also many WWD incidents that do not result in a crash. Some of these wrong-way drivers are stopped by LEOs and issued a pertinent citation, but in some cases, the drivers are not intercepted. Other roadway users may report WWD events to emergency response personnel, such as a 911 computer aided dispatch (CAD) call centre.

146 J.H. Rogers et al.

In other cases, there might be no report of the WWD event and the WWD drivers might correct their direction of travel on their own or exit the limited access facility in the wrong direction.

When WWD crashes occur on limited access facilities, these events usually make news headlines and strike fear into those who use these high-speed roadways. A right way driver on the mainline can take little action to avoid a WWD vehicle, since the approach rates of both vehicles combine for an excessive rate of speed (105 kph + 105 kph = 210 kph). To take a specific example, a severe WWD crash occurred on August 30, 2012 on the eastbound SR 408 (Toll Road) near Good Homes Road in Orlando, Florida. A suicidal driver drove his vehicle the wrong way and crashed into another oncoming vehicle that was travelling the correct way. Both drivers died in this WWD crash. This crash garnered negative media attention and triggered this investigation into WWD incidents on Central Florida toll roads, especially roads operated by the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA), and later a systematic evaluation for the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE).

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), only about 3% of crashes that occur on high-speed divided highways are caused by WWD (NTSB, 2012). Although WWD crashes are rare, the consequences can be severe. Therefore, it is important to try to reduce the occurrence of these crashes as much as possible. WWD is also a serious problem in Florida. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), Florida had 386 fatalities due to WWD crashes from 2007–2011 (CBS Pittsburgh, 2013). This makes Florida the third worst state in the USA for WWD, behind Pennsylvania and Texas (CBS Pittsburgh, 2013).

Studies on WWD first started in 1962 in California and have continued through the present day (NTSB, 2012). Many of these studies have focused on analysis of WWD crashes and countermeasures to reduce WWD. While studying crashes is important, it is also important to study other WWD events that may not have resulted in a crash. These events can include WWD citation data and 911 call data. Information on unreported WWD events is also beneficial; this information can be obtained by surveying toll road users about WWD events they have witnessed on toll roads. Analysing all of the data in the WWD universe (Figure 1), not just crash data, will provide a more accurate picture on the extent of WWD.

Figure 1 The universe of WWD data (see online version for colours)


1.1 Research objectives

The goal of this research was to determine the extent of WWD on Central Florida toll roads and if WWD is a significant problem. To achieve this goal, the following objectives needed to be met:

• Collect and analyse WWD data on Central Florida toll roads and FTE’s statewide toll road system. These data include WWD crash data, citation data, 911 call data, and data on unreported WWD events collected through a customer survey.

• Identify areas where WWD tends to occur.

• Determine if a future study is necessary to evaluate countermeasures that can reduce WWD on Central Florida toll roads.

• Provide countermeasure solutions using current technology to mitigate the risk of WWD.

It is important for Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to know not just where the WWD crashes, citations and 911 calls occur, but to know precisely where the WWD initiated. This operational data is necessary to know the exact location where countermeasures can be implemented or improved; with today’s intelligent transportation systems (ITS), this information is more readily accessible.

2 Literature review

According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is a database of fatal crashes in the USA, approximately 350 people are killed yearly due to WWD crashes on freeways (Cooner and Ranft, 2008). These types of crashes often bring significant media attention, which may paint a negative image of the roadway sections on which they occur.

Zhou et al. (2012) investigated the main contributing factors regarding WWD on freeways. According to FARS, 1753 people died and thousands were injured in WWD crashes in the US (on all types of roadways) between 1996 and 2000, ranging from 300 to 900 fatalities per year. These statistics indicate that this is a significant national problem and deserves serious attention at the national, state, and local levels. This report mentioned studies conducted by other states that showed the frequency of WWD crashes. These studies were conducted in California (1965–1985), with an average of 35 WWD fatal crashes per year; Connecticut (2004–2006), with an average of 9 WWD crashes per year on interstate highways; New Mexico (1990–2004), with 49 fatal WWD crashes on interstate freeways during the study period; and North Carolina (2000–2005), with 162 WWD crashes on freeways during the study period.

WWD on freeways is not a new problem. Since the early 1950s, in an effort to prevent WWD crashes, researchers at the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) developed warrants for median barrier implementation based on median width, traffic volume, and benefit/cost ratio, (Sicking et al., 2009). Other states followed the steps of Caltrans. However, WWD on toll roads is a relatively new problem. During most of the travel hours, toll roads are less congested than public roads and freeways.


With higher traffic speeds in both directions of travel on toll roads, WWD incidents can lead to even more severe head-on crashes than in the case of freeways.

Cooner and Ranft (2008) and Cooner et al. (2004) performed research on freeway WWD in Texas (this research included an overview of project activities and findings as well as guidelines and recommended practices) (Cooner et al., 2004). These studies indicated that WWD crashes on freeways were more dangerous than other types of crashes because they were usually head-on collisions. The studies reported the state of the practice on this subject in California, Georgia, and Washington.

Freeway-related WWD crashes in Texas were analysed using the Department of Public Safety (DPS) crash reports and 911 public safety answering point representatives’ reports. Results showed that the probability of WWD crashes happening in the early morning period was five times higher than the average crash frequency for other types of crashes in this period. Characteristics of WWD crashes, such as severity, driver age and sex, driver impairment, time of crash, and origination of crash, were also analysed. The results showed that most of the crashes were head-on collisions. The drivers were most likely elderly and male, with 50-70% of crashes involving a DUI. The crashes usually occurred during early morning hours and originated at freeway exit ramps.

Cooner (2012) reported that a high majority of WWD incidents involved drunk drivers. Only 4 out of the 31 wrong-way crashes studied were caused by a person that was found to have medical issues. Peak hours for WWD crashes occurred from 10 P.M. to 8 A.M., spiking between 2 A.M. and 4 A.M. This data implies that a majority of the crashes occur after someone goes out to a bar/club and decides to have a few drinks, then tries to drive home. While under the influence, the drivers are unaware that they are going in the wrong direction and end up causing a major incident. The following statistics were mentioned in the paper:

• 45% of crashes occurred between 2 A.M. and 4 A.M.

• 27 out of 31 incidents involved a driver that was intoxicated

• 50% of crashes involved a fatality or incapacitating injury

• 20 fatalities/year and 100 crashes/year involving wrong-way drivers occurred between 2007 and 2011

• average blood alcohol content (BAC) of an intoxicated wrong-way driver was 0.19 (legal limit is 0.08).

Arthur (2012) and Grossman (2012) reported about a wrong-way incident on I-35 in San Antonio on November 23, 2012. The incident occurred when a wrong-way driver assumed the fast lane of the southbound lane was the slow lane of the northbound lane. One driver swerved to miss the wrong-way driver, but the wrong-way driver hit another vehicle, sending it over the edge of I-35 and overturning onto Rittman Road. The following statistics on WWD were also mentioned:

• there were 185 reports of WWD incidents in San Antonio, Texas during 2011

• drivers placed (358) 911 calls reporting WWD incidents in San Antonio to the San Antonio Police Department during 2011, which equates to 0.98 WWD incident call/day, which is significant.


The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has since implemented flashing ‘Wrong-Way’ and ‘Do Not Enter’ signs to try to combat wrong-way entries onto controlled access highways.

The NTSB 2012 report (NTSB/SIR-12/01) noted the following information on WWD crash characteristics:

• WWD crashes – rare on highway, severe, US nationally averages 300 per year, and this value has remained unchanged in recent years

• WWD crashes occur frequently at night and on weekends, and lane closest to median

• more than 60% of WWD collisions caused by intoxicated or impaired drivers • older drivers typically over-represented in WWD collisions

• WWD signs could be improved

• traffic control devices at exit ramps should be distinguishable from ones at entrance ramps

• design of interchanges has proven effective in reducing some incursions

• some WWD monitoring programs provide a solution to identify collision trends

• methods to stop WWD vehicle involve high degree of risk

• systematic alert to provide right-way drivers with information on WWD could enhance safety

• navigation WWD alerts proven reliable and effective but human factors must be considered in message content.

It is important to realise that limiting an analysis to WWD crashes is insufficient to understand the full extent of the WWD problem. In fact, many WWD incidents go unreported especially if there is no injury, no significant property damage, or no damage at all. Additionally, except for Al-Deek et al. (2013), no major research efforts have been published studying WWD in Florida or the Central Florida region.

3 Methodology

The methodology for this research concerned two critical functions; identifying WWD events and identifying where on the toll road network these WWD events occurred. Several data sources were gathered and analysed for this research. These data sources needed to be mined for information relating to the following Central Florida toll roads: SR 408, SR 414, SR 417, SR 429, and SR 528. These roads make up the OOCEA Toll Road Network (shown in purple in Figure 2). The green coloured sections of roadways in Figure 2 are under the jurisdiction of Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. These jurisdictional lines were reflected in the maps created for this study using Google maps.


Figure 2 Map of OOCEA toll roads (OOCEA, 2013) (see online version for colours)

The FTE toll road network is identified in green in Figure 3. This network shares some connections with the OOCEA’s system, but the FTE network is a larger statewide entity. The following roads on the FTE system were reviewed for simple WWD crash statistics:

SR 91 (Turnpike Mainline), SR 417 (Seminole Express/Southern Connector), SR 528 (Beachline), SR 570 (Polk Parkway), SR 589 (Veterans Expressway/Suncoast Parkway),SR 821 (Homestead Extension), and SR 869 (Sawgrass Expressway).

The roadways were analysed with respect to different sources of data. The following list summarises the various data sources:

• OOCEA WWD crash report hard copies (electronic PDF’s) for the years 2003–2012 and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 5 crash data

• Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) WWD citation data from 2010–2012 for Florida Statute 316.090 (WWD on a divided highway)


• CAD 911 call data with approximate location of reported WWD event and nearby interchanges

• WWD Toll Road Customer Survey with Computer Assisted Telephone Instrument (CATI) response data.

Figure 3 Map of FTE toll roads (FTE, 2014) (see online version for colours)

The following list summarises the data analysis methods used and performed for this research:

• Crash Analysis – Crashes were counted within each yearly dataset and crash reports were filtered and processed to calculate yearly and roadway WWD crash trends. Percentages were calculated for multiple parameters and compared to values found in previous studies. Yearly data reports of daily vehicle miles travelled were used to calculate WWD crash and injury rates for Orange County toll roads. X (longitude) and Y (latitude) coordinates were utilised to create a map layer in Google Maps showing WWD crashes. Crash data categories were analysed by filtering data and using pivot table functions with datasets. Mean comprehensive crash estimates were calculated by using national crash costs from Federal Highway. Administration’s report “Crash Cost Estimates by Maximum Police-Reported Injury Severity within Selected Crash Geometries” (Council et al., 2005) and converting these costs to 2013 US dollars.


• Citation Analysis – Citations were also counted within data sheets and yearly vehicle highway miles travelled reports were used to calculate exposure. X and Y coordinates were utilised for mapping, similar to crashes.

• 911 Call Analysis – 911 calls were counted within data sheets and data filtering was used to calculate various percentages. X and Y coordinates were utilised to map these WWD 911 calls; some data points which lacked X and Y coordinates were clustered by location description in the data (mile markers, interchanges, etc.).

• Survey Analysis – Survey responses were counted and the mode (most frequent response) was determined for each questions. The number of total answers was summed and percentages were calculated for the modes. Contingency tables (cross tables) were developed to compare answers of one question to answers of another question to better understand the relationship between the questions.

• Systematic Ranking – Several of the data points analysed in this research were used to rank OOCEA roadways with regards to WWD events per category (the roadway with the most events ranked #1 and the roadway with the least events ranked #5). Since weighting of the various WWD events was not developed for this research at the time of writing this paper, a simple summation of category rankings was used to provide a simple overall ranking of the roadways with respect to the combination of multiple WWD parameters.

WDD SYSTEMATIC RANKING

4 Crash analysis

The research team received crash data information and crash reports from OOCEA, which included “Driving Wrong Side/Way” (code of 21) as a contributing cause by the driver. This crash data was examined to provide insights on the following information:

• trends of WWD crash (OOCEA & Central Florida FTE)

• location of WWD crashes on and near the OOCEA system • summary of other crash factors (OOCEA & FTE Statewide)

• estimate of the costs associated with WWD crashes (OOCEA & FTE Statewide).

4.1 Crash trends on Central Florida toll roads

Figure 4 summarises the overall crash and injury rates on Orange County Toll Roads, which include both OOCEA and FTE jurisdictions. The figure shows that the rate of overall crashes and rate of injuries per billion VMT on Orange County toll roads has been declining. The crash rate peaked in 2007 and the rate of injuries peaked in 2005. 2011 had the lowest rate for overall crash rates and injury rates, similar to the overall death rate trends shown in the statewide Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle crash facts records, where 2011 had the lowest death rates compared to previous years.


Figure 4 Overall crashes and injury rates on orange county toll roads

The WWD crash and injury rates are shown in Figure 5. The WWD crash and injury rates peaked in 2003 and declined in 2004. Between the years 2004 and 2011, these rates have not changed significantly. From 2004 onwards, many highways and limited access routes have implemented structural median barriers; no additional WWD countermeasures have been added other than the standard traffic control devices.

Figure 5 WWD crashes and injury rates on orange county toll roads


4.2 Map layer of WWD crashes

Figure 6 shows a Google Map Layer of WWD crashes pinned on the Central Florida Toll Road Network for the years 2003 to 2012. The purple roadways represent the OOCEA network and the green roadways are Florida Turnpike sections of the Central Florida Toll Road Network. The entire FTE system is not currently mapped, but will be mapped later for a current research project and in future journal papers.

Figure 6 Central Florida toll road network – WWD crashes (see online version for colours)

4.3 WWD crash details

Table 1 shows that SR 408 had the highest number of total WWD crashes (8), the highest number of vehicles involved (18), and the highest number of injuries (14) for the OOCEA toll road network from 2003–2012. SR 417 was second in both number of total WWD crashes (7) and injuries (14). SR 528 had the highest number of fatalities (4) and SR 408 had the second highest number of fatalities (2). SR 408 is a very heavily travelled toll road, which provides east-west access to downtown Orlando. Many late night establishments are located within the city’s centre, which could have contributed to SR 408 having the highest number of crashes on the OOCEA system. On SR 528, the segment where the fatalities occurred runs between Orlando International Airport and Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral; its roadway alignment is very straight with little curvature and travel speeds are high, which likely contributed to the severity of these crashes. SR 414 is a divided highway that turns into a limited access toll route. Its length is relatively short compared to the other toll roadways within the OOCEA’s system, which explains its low numbers. SR 429 is one of the newer routes on system and typically carries a very low amount of traffic volume compared to the other roadways, which can account for its low numbers.


Table 1 WWD crashes on OOCEA toll roads from 2003–2012

WWD crashinformation/toll road: SR 408 SR 414 SR 417 SR 429 SR 528 Total Crashes 8 3 7 1 6 25 Vehicles involved 18 8 14 2 13 55 Injuries 14 4 9 3 13 43 Fatalities 2 0 0 0 4 6

Table 2 shows that SR 91 (Turnpike Mainline) had the highest number of not only total WWD crashes (52), but the highest number in the other categories as well for the statewide FTE system. SR 821 (Homestead Extension) was second in crashes, injuries, and fatalities. A large amount of the SR 91 and SR 821 crashes occurred within the South Florida region. SR 91 cuts diagonally across the state, covering a large section of the state; this length alone can account for the high frequency of crashes. SR 821 is mostly within Broward and Miami-Dade County in South Florida, where the intensity and concentration of WWD is very high.

Table 2 WWD crashes on FTE system (statewide) from 2002–2012

WWD crash information/toll road:

SR91

SR417

SR528

SR570

SR589

SR821

SR869 Total

Crashes 52 7 4 4 8 22 7 104Vehicles involved 117 14 8 7 15 45 14 220Injuries 74 14 2 1 7 17 1 116Fatalities 12 2 0 2 0 7 0 23

Table 3 is a summary of the crash factors associated with WWD for both the OOCEA’s system and FTE system. It is important to note that this should not be used as a comparison between the two agencies since this information has not been normalised with traffic volume and exposure. While both systems have similarities, the Turnpike Mainline covers a much larger amount of territory, from Ocala to Miami. The FTE’s system is also in the early stages of analysis, which is why some of the cells are noted to be determined (TBD) later. The research team only had partial data on FTE system when the analysis was conducted in this paper. Currently, the research team is in the process of collecting more data on FTE and most likely (TBD) can be replaced with actual statistics in the near future. This table links the collected crash data to factors exposed in the literature review section, shown in the last column on the right. It should be noted that the OOCEA data summary shows that 28% of the events involved hit and run drivers. Some of these drivers were not apprehended and could have been driving under the influence, resulting in a higher percentage of crashes with alcohol involved than shown, but it is impossible to confirm this.

WWD Crash costs were estimated for the OOCEA’s network by reviewing the detailed crash reports and assigning a monetary value to these crashes. This value was obtained by referencing the Federal Highway Administration’s report “Crash Cost Estimates by Maximum Police-Reported Injury Severity within Selected Crash Geometries” (Council et al., 2005) and converting these costs to 2013 US dollars.


Figure 7 shows that, when considering the economic costs of the WWD crashes, SR 528 ranks highest amongst the OOCEA toll roads in WWD crash cost and SR 408 ranks second highest. Analysis of the FTE system is still in the preliminary stages (as part of an ongoing WWD research project); therefore, crash costs have not been estimated for the FTE system.

Table 3 Summary factors of OOCEA and FTE WWD crashes

OOCEA WWD crash data Summary FTE WWD crash data summary WWD literature review 6 of 25 (24%) WWD crashes involved alcohol use

32 of 104 (31%) WWD crashes involved alcohol use

More than 60% caused by intoxicated or impaired drivers (NTSB/SIR-12/01)

0.197 BAC results average from persons tested

TBD later Average BAC results of 0.19 (Cooner, 2012)

50% of the drivers below 25 years of age involved alcohol

57% of the drivers below 25 years of age involved alcohol

Not reported precisely in the literature review

7 of 25 (28%) WWD crashes involved hit and run drivers

TBD later Not reported precisely in the literature review

20 of 25 (80%) WWD crashes occurred from 07:00 PM–06:00 AM

64 of 104 (62%) WWD crashes occurred from 07:00 PM–06:00 AM

Peak hours for WWD crashes occurred from 10 P.M. to 8 A.M., spiking between 2 A.M. and 4 A.M (Cooner, 2012)

Figure 7 WWD mean comprehensive crash cost estimate by OOCEA toll road

The WWD crash data analysis shows that WWD crashes on high-speed facilities are serious and result in high economic costs. One reason for this is that it can be extremely difficult for a right-way driver to avoid a wrong-way driver if they are approaching each other at a combined highway speed of 210 km/hr (105 km/hr in each direction). At these speeds, the impact on the drivers and passengers of both vehicles will always be very severe.


5 WWD citation data analysis

In addition to the crash data discussed in the previous section, the research team also analysed data on WWD citations. Citation data was obtained from two sources: Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (HSMV) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP). These data are analysed separately in the following sections.

5.1 Statute 316.090 analysis

Florida Statute 316.090 deals with driving on divided highways. A violation of this statute, which could be either WWD or illegal crossing of a median, is a good indication of WWD on toll roads, since these roads are usually divided highways. Therefore, this statute merits special consideration and its own analysis.

Figure 8 shows citations issued statewide per billion miles driven per year for violating statute 316.090 from 2002–2012. The highest rate of citations for this statute was issued in 2006, when 6,273 were issued.

Figure 8 316.090 citation rate issued statewide per year

Table 4 shows the citation rate for the Florida counties with the highest VMT. Miami-Dade County has a very high rate of WWD citations issued compared to the other heavily travelled counties. Orange County is the highest Central Florida county, at rank 5. Since Central Florida experiences high volumes of traffic, there is a greater chance of WWD events happening there than in than less populated, more rural areas of the state. Three Central Florida counties (Orange, Volusia, and Brevard) experience high amounts of vehicular traffic and high amounts of WWD citations.

5.2 Map layer of WWD citation 316.090(1)

FHP provided the research team with citation data tables for Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties for 2010 (starting in April), 2011, and 2012. The citation statutes


provided included FS 316.090(1), which is defined as driving on the wrong side of a divided highway. The FHP data contained X (longitude) and Y (latitude) information so it could be mapped using Google Maps to visualise the Central Florida network. This citation data is plotted for the Central Florida Toll Road Network in Figure 9.

Table 4 316.090 citation rate issued per high VMT Florida counties

CountyTotal VMT from

2002–2011Number of 316.090

citations issued Number of WWD citations

per billion miles driven Miami-Dade 198,292,113,938 19,250 97.1 Broward 162,429,212,559 4620 28.4 Hillsborough 126,731,863,537 3684 29.1 Palm Beach 123,529,397,297 3227 26.1 Orange 123,450,110,433 2638 21.4 Duval 105,015,468,967 1532 14.6 Pinellas 85,033,778,554 1415 16.6 Brevard 63,207,479,561 1310 20.7 Lee 62,301,293,351 1298 20.8 Volusia 56,026,114,320 1073 19.2

Figure 9 OOCEA and Central Florida toll road network map of WWD citation 316.090 (1) (see online version for colours)

Table 5 is a summary of the number of citations for FS 316.090(1) on the OOCEA toll roads from 2010–2012. SR 408 had the highest number of these types of WWD citations (5).


Table 5 OOCEA toll road WWD citation 316.090(1)

Toll road: SR 408 SR 414 SR 417 SR 429 SR 528 TotalNumber of 316.090(1) citations: 5 1 1 1 3 11

6 WWD 911 call data analysis

6.1 Statewide WWD 911 call analysis

WWD 911 call data was obtained from FHP; this data contained detailed information on the location and time the WWD was reported. The research team looked at nine years of data from 2004–2012. These data were analysed for statewide statistics and trends, then the WWD 911 calls for Central Florida toll roads were mapped using Google Maps. Figure 10 shows the number of WWD 911 calls received statewide per billion miles driven from 2004–2011. This rate was higher in 2008–2011 than in 2004–2007.

Figure 10 911 WWD call rate Florida statewide 2004–2011

Another important aspect of the WWD 911 calls is the time at which they occurred. Knowing when WWD tends to occur is important so preventive measures can be used more effectively by focusing on the hours when the majority of WWD occurs. Figure 11 shows the WWD 911 call time distribution split into 6-hour periods. Over 36% of the total WWD 911 calls occurred from 12 AM–5:59 AM, whereas only 15% occurred from 6 AM–11:59 AM. These data show that more WWD occurs at night, even though there are usually not as many vehicles on the road during the nighttime hours compared to the daytime hours.

6.2 Map layer of WWD 911 call data on orange county toll roads

The WWD 911 call data contained location descriptions and mile markers, which were used to approximate the locations of the WWD 911 calls. Figure 12 shows the Google map that was used to capture this call information and map it on the Orange County toll road network.


Figure 11 Statewide 911 WWD calls per time period from 2004–2011

Figure 12 Orange county toll road network 911 calls mapped (see online version for colours)

Table 6 shows the number of WWD 911 calls received for SR408, SR414, SR417, SR429 and SR528 in Orange County. SR528 is the toll road that experienced the most WWD 911 calls (68).

Table 6 Orange county toll road WWD 911 calls

Toll road: SR 408 SR 414 SR 417 SR 429 SR 528 TotalNumber of 911 calls: 46 3 49 37 68 203


6.3 Summary of WWD 911 call data analysis

Statewide, the average number of WWD 911 calls from 2004–2012 was 955. There were more than 955 WWD 911 calls statewide in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2012. Normalising these values by considering the statewide VMT gave an average rate of 4.80 WWD 911 calls per billion miles driven from 2004–2011. The rate was above average in 2005 and from 2008–2011. This shows that reports of WWD have become more frequent over the past few years. The hourly distribution of the WWD 911 calls shows that a majority of them are received during nighttime hours (12 AM–5:59 AM and 6 PM–11:59 PM). The WWD 911 calls provide a deeper insight into the extent of the WWD problem on Central Florida toll roads, but it is not known how many unreported WWD incidents there are; determining this amount is one of the goals of the OOCEA customer survey.

7 WWD OOCEA customer survey

The research team designed a survey for gathering WWD information from the OOCEA’s customers. The survey was launched using the “Computer Assisted Telephone Instrument”, or CATI, method. This method utilised random digit dialling in areas surrounding OOCEA’s toll roads in Central Florida. A professional survey company was hired to obtain a sample of 400 completed surveys. The survey took place between the dates of March 7, 2013 and March 7, 2013. On average, respondents took 7 minutes and 53 seconds to complete the survey. Before the survey was launched, it was reviewed and approved by the University of Central Florida’s Internal Review Board.

Table 7 provides a breakdown for Set A questions, including the most common response (mode), the count of this response, and the percentage of this response for each question. These questions were asked to survey respondents who stated that they had personally witnessed WWD on Central Florida toll roads, of which there were 297 out of the 400 total survey respondents. The most common Central Florida toll road where WWD was observed was SR 408. Most of the WWD events witnessed occurred during daytime hours, daylight and clear sky conditions. 50.2% of the respondents felt that they were at high risk of danger. 11.1% of the respondents answered that the WWD event they witnessed caused a crash. 63.0% of the respondents said that the event did not affect their driving patterns. One of the most intriguing findings is that 89.9% of the respondents did not call 911 to report the WWD event, meaning that only 10.1% of the respondents called 911 to report the event. Therefore, WWD 911 calls only represent a small portion of WWD events. This finding is important, since it shows that drivers do not report these WWD events even when they feel at a high risk of danger. Since not all WWD events result in a crash or are even reported, it is important for roadway agencies to proactively detect WWD events to be able to stop the wrong-way driver before a crash occurs.

Figure 13 shows the distribution of the WWD events encountered on OOCEA roadways. 153 of the 297 respondents in the Set A questions witnessed their most recent WWD event on an OOCEA roadway. The percentages in Figure 13 represent these 153 WWD events with the following frequencies for each toll road: SR 408 (71), SR 417 (37), SR 528 (30), SR 429 + SR 414 (12 + 3 = 15). It is important to note that SR 429 and SR 414 were combined because SR 414 had only 3 WWD events.


Figure 13 Percentage of WWD events witnessed per OOCEA roadway

Figure 14 compares the OOCEA road question (Q2A) with the question asking if the respondents felt if they “were at a high risk of danger” form the WWD event (Q9A), which has responses of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, for the 153 respondents who witnessed WWD on an OOCEA roadway. SR 429 and SR 414 had the highest percentage of ‘Yes’ responses, with 67%. SR 528 was second with a 50% response to ‘Yes.’ For the entire OOCEA network, 48% of these 153 respondents answered ‘Yes’

Figure 14 Q2A (OOCEA toll road) by Q9A (high risk of danger)

Figure 15 compares the OOCEA road question (Q2A) with the response of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to calling 911 or reporting the WWD event (Q13A) for the same 153 respondents. Overall, OOCEA roads only had 8% of these respondents report the WWD event. On SR 528, 0% of the respondents reported the WWD event, even though there were 30 encounters of WWD on this roadway, as shown in Figure 13. SR 429 and SR 414 combined had the highest percentage of respondents who called 911 with 13%.


Table 7 OOCEA customer survey set A Q1A–Q13A breakdown

QuestionNo of

choices Mode-description Count Total

answered % Q1A. How long ago did you witness this most recent wrong-way driving event?

4 Less than six months ago

169 297 56.9

Q2A. On which Central Florida freeway or toll road did you witness this wrong-way driving event?

9 State Road 408 71 297 23.9

Q3A. Where precisely on the roadway did this wrong-way driving event occur?

6 On the same side of the roadway as you were travelling

86 297 29.0

Q4A. During which time of day did you experience this wrong-way driving event?

6 After 3 PM until 7 PM

84 297 28.3

Q5A. What was the lighting condition when this wrong-way driving event occurred?

5 Daylight condition 162 297 54.5

Q6A. What was the weather when this wrong-way driving event occurred?

7 Clear sky or light cloud

198 297 66.7

Q7A. Was there any type of overhead roadway lighting when this wrong-way driving event occurred?

3 No 193 297 65.0

Q8A. What type of vehicle was travelling the wrong way?

8 Personal/private passenger vehicle

227 297 76.4

Q9A. Did you feel that you and/or your passengers were at a high risk of danger when you witnessed this wrong-way driving event?

2 Yes 149 297 50.2

Q10A. Did you see if this wrong-way driving event caused a crash?

2 No 264 297 88.9

Q11A. Did this wrong-way driving event affect your driving patterns?

2 No 187 297 63.0

Q12A. How did this wrong-way driving event affect your driving patterns? (Choose all that apply)

4 It caused you to drive more alert and defensively.

96 110 87.3

Q13A. Did you call 911 or report this wrong-way driving event to any applicable public agencies?

4 No 267 297 89.9

Table 8 summarises the total number of responses for Figures 13–15. Overall, SR 408 has the most responses on all categories in these survey questions. This table, along with previous summary tables, will be used to systematically rank each OOCEA toll road by WWD statistical category.


Figure 15 Q2A (OOCEA toll road) by Q13A (call 911 or report WWD)

Table 8 Summary of survey responses for Q2A, Q2A by Q9A, and Q2A by Q13A

WWD survey response/ OOCEA toll road SR 408 SR 414 SR 417 SR 429 SR 528 Total Q2A WWD responses 71 3 37 12 30 153 Q2A by Q9A high risk (‘Yes’ response)

31 3 17 7 15 73

Q2A by Q13A Call 911 (‘Yes’ response)

7 0 4 2 0 13

WWD SYSTEMATIC RANKING

The results from the previous sections are organised in Table 9. The columns contain each of the OOCEA toll roadways, while the rows contain a sample of the WWD data sources. Each roadway is ranked for each data category (1 indicating the highest frequency, and 5 indicating the lowest frequency). These rankings are totalled at the bottom and each roadway is ranked according to these totals.

Overall, SR 408 ranks first (or worst), SR528 ranks second, SR417 ranks third, SR414, and SR429 both rank fourth (tie) for the WWD data sources. It is important to note that these categories are not weighted against one another and some categories likely overlap. This systematic summary is very useful for understanding the most effective places to implement WWD countermeasures.

8 Countermeasures

The proposed concept of using Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) as WWD countermeasures, Figure 16 is unique and innovative. RRFBs are currently only used at pedestrian crosswalks to warn vehicles of crossing pedestrians; the new Phase-2 study is the first study to use RRFBs as WWD countermeasures. WRONG WAY signs equipped


with RRFBs, radar detection, and cameras, are being installed at five pilot test locations on the CFX toll road network: SR 408 and Hiawassee Road (2 off ramps), SR 408 and Kirkman Road (2 off ramps), and SR 528 and SR 520 (eastbound off ramp).

Table 9 Cross tabulation of OOCEA toll road data by row ranking

WWD data source/ OOCEA toll road SR 408 SR 414 SR 417 SR 429 SR 528 Crashes 1 4 2 5 3 Vehicles involved 1 4 2 5 3 Injuries 1 4 3 5 2 Fatalities 2 3 3 3 1 Crash cost 2 4 3 5 1 316.090(1) citations 1 3 3 3 2 911 calls 3 5 2 4 1 Q2A WWD responses 1 5 2 4 3 Q2A by Q9A high risk 1 5 2 4 3 Q2A by Q13A Call 911 1 4 2 3 4 Total col. sum of ranks 14 41 24 41 23 Rank col. sum 1 4 3 4 2

Figure 16 Conceptual RRFB for wrong way ramp signage (see online version for colours)

9 Conclusion

The major objective of this research project was to measure and understand WWD trends and statistics for the OOCEA and the Central Florida toll road network. The WWD crash findings show that these crashes do not make up a large percentage of the overall crashes on the OOCEA network. However, when a WWD crash event occurred, it had a high chance of being catastrophic. WWD crashes accounted for 5% of the total fatalities on the OOCEA system. 4 out of the 25 total WWD crashes analysed (16%) resulted in 6 total fatalities in a 10-year time span (2003–2012). 19 out of the 25 crashes (76%) resulted in 43 total injuries. The overall average crash cost of WWD on the OOCEA system was estimated to $3,100,000 per year, and the 10-year total cost of WWD was


estimated to be $31,000,000. SR 528 had the highest total crash cost estimate and SR 408 had the second highest crash cost estimate. These results show that WWD crashes are costly to OOCEA’s customers.

Google maps were created for this project, showing the locations of WWD crashes, citations, and 911 calls. These maps showed that SR 408 ranked first in 316.090(1) citations and SR 528 ranked second. The WWD 911 call data analysis shows that the majority of these calls statewide are received during nighttime hours. In addition, 911 WWD reports have become more frequent statewide over the past few years, with respect to VMT. The analysis of individual OOCEA roadways in Orange County shows that SR 528 had the most 911 calls. SR 417 was second and SR 408 was a close third. Recent WWD countermeasure research on Texas toll roads has used 911 reports extensively to understand WWD breaches at interchanges and determine what corridors are ‘hot spots’ for WWD.

The WWD OOCEA customer survey served as a critical tool in understanding unreported and reported WWD events. The survey collected responses through a computer-assisted phone-calling instrument. 297 respondents personally witnessed WWD on Central Florida’s freeways and toll roads and 103 respondents knew of a family member or friend who had witnessed WWD on these roads. SR 408 was the most common roadway where WWD events were witnessed, with SR 417 the second most common. Unlike the 911-call analysis, most respondents said that these WWD events occurred during daytime hours. 50% of the respondents felt that they were at a high risk of danger when they witnessed the WWD event. Only 10.1% of the respondents called 911 to report the WWD event. This low number should be improved by getting the word out to the public to call and report these types of dangerous events, in order to fully understand the extent of WWD.

The WWD systematic summary analysis shows how the OOCEA roads rank in terms of various categories of WWD data sources. It is very important to note that these categories were not weighted against each other. The results show that, overall, SR 408 ranks first (or worst) and SR 528 ranks second for WWD measures. These results will be useful for a future evaluation of WWD countermeasure implementation.

WWD is a serious event, which can result in devastating consequences and huge economic losses to the individuals involved in crashes. It is the recommendation of this study to further combat WWD with a three-tiered level approach for countermeasures (low, medium, and high-level WWD countermeasures). Low-level countermeasures include low-cost traffic control devices such as proper signs (DO NOT ENTER, WRONG WAY) and pavement markings (directional arrows, reflective pavement markings) to ensure conformance to standards. The quantity, size, and location of these countermeasures is important to ensure they work effectively. Medium-level countermeasures include enhanced signage with warning beacons such as flashing LED ‘WRONG WAY’ signs or Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) warning devices for ‘WRONG WAY’ signs. RRFBs are currently used primarily for pedestrian crosswalks, but this research team is actively working with OOCEA (now known as the Central Florida Expressway Authority, or CFX) to test these devices at exit ramps on SR 408 and SR 528 to detect and reduce WWD. These warning beacon assemblies can also include WWD detection technologies that can record breaches and video logs of wrong-way drivers. This detection is very important to further understand the extent of WWD, since it was shown that drivers do not usually report witnessed WWD events. Medium-level devices require more time, effort and capital to implement than low-level


countermeasures and should be implemented near WWD event hot spots. The high-level countermeasures for WWD include the use of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) devices and communications to warn the right way drivers of detected and reported wrong way drivers. Essentially, the WWD event has to be confirmed through detection or reports and then communication tools, like dynamic message signs (DMS), have to be set to display safety messages like “Wrong Way Driver Reported – Use Extreme Caution”. The transportation agencies have to determine if their operations, personnel and infrastructure are sufficiently adapted to perform this function. This option comes with additional costs and responsibility compared to the medium-level countermeasures.

Determining the extent and significance of WWD helps agencies move forward with plans for appropriate countermeasures. WWD crashes have a high probability of catastrophic results, including incapacitating injuries, fatalities, and high economic damages. These crashes can also cause significant negative media attention for the roadway agencies in charge of the roads where the crashes occur. Taking this proactive approach in fully investigating and fighting WWD allows agencies like CFX and FTE to implement innovative and cost-effective solutions to reduce the likelihood of future WWD incidents and possible catastrophes.

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