In 2012, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a special report on wrong-way driving. According to the report, wrong-way collisions account for approximately just 3% of all accidents on our roadways each year. However, wrong-way crashes which occur on U.S. divided highways are among the most dangerous types of crashes because they are much more likely to result in either serious injuries or fatalities. The federal agency has concluded that while drugs and alcohol might be a factor in some wrong-way crashes, driver confusion among those who are inexperienced or elderly may also play a role.
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One such accident happened at approximately 4:06 p.m. in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 on January 13th. The NBC affiliate station in San Diego reported on their website about the accident where one man was killed while another man was critically injured.
California Highway Patrol Battalion Chief, Rick Ballard, said in a statement that the accident happened at the exit Civic Center and Front Street near the transition to California State Route 163 when a black Nissan entered the I-5 and began driving northbound in the southbound lanes.
CHP Sargent Ray Scheidnes said that the Nissan went against the oncoming traffic in all lanes of I-5 before hitting a Volkswagen minivan in a head-on collision and crashing into a center divider.
Emergency crews that were called to the scene had to extricate both drivers from their vehicles.
The driver of the Nissan was only identified as being a 44-years-old man from Lebanon, Maine. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
The driver of the Volkswagen was a 67-year-old San Diego man and was transported to UCSD Medical Center in critical condition.
While the investigation is still ongoing, so far, authorities do not believe that neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the fatal crash. So far, investigators believe that
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