Fatal wrong-way accidents are on pace to make 2024 the second deadliest year since the 1980s. According to statistics that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) commissioner Garrett Eucalitto shared during a recent press conference on improving roadway safety around Thanksgiving, there have been 299 fatalities to-date this year, 13 from wrong way driving.
“We’re probably going to hit 300 any day now.” Eucalitto said.
The press conference was largely dedicated to discussing how the wrong-way driver activation system DOT has been installing following a 2023 law and to urge Connecticut residents not to speed around the Thanksgiving holiday.
According to Eucalitto, CTDOT has installed 123 wrong way detection systems, which flash a red light at drivers to alert them they are going the wrong way, on high-risk ramps and are on track to install 135 by the end of the year.
That will mean warning systems will be in place at roughly 57 percent of the 236 ramps CTDOT has identified as high-risk. CTDOT previously conducted a study of over 700 ramps and evaluated factors such as locations where multiple ramps met in the wrong location, whether there was a history of wrong way driving, adjacent bars and other businesses that serve alcohol.
According to Eucalitto, the system has been activated 195 times this year and 13 fatalities have been recorded. In 80 percent of activations, Eucalitto said that drivers have self-corrected and turned their vehicle around. He said the other 20 percent of activations were “lost in the system.”
“This crisis as we know is being fueled by speeding, intoxication, and often just poor decision making by drivers behind the wheel.” Eucalitto said.
The press conference was held in Naugatuck, where a wrong-way system is installed at exit 25A on the northbound side of Route 8, where Eucalitto said there have been 14 activations of the wrong-way system to date. All have resulted in the driver turning around safely.
Eucalitto said that Naugatuck has the second highest number of activations next to Danbury, which has four exits with wrong-way warning systems, three on I-84 and one on Route 7.
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protections (DESPP) commissioner Ronnell Higgins also spoke, describing several incidents where state police have encountered wrong way drivers and stopped them by colliding into them with their patrol cars. He said troopers to this “each and every day to protect the motoring public” and that while the warning system is working, troopers need more help confronting wrong way drivers, especially in the early hours of the morning.
Gov. Ned Lamont also spoke briefly at the press conference and addressed recent reporting from Inside Investigator detailing how Jonathan Dach, Lamont’s former chief of staff, allegedly improperly used state vehicles. The vehicle’s tracking system also recorded multiple instances of Dach driving 90 and 100 miles per hour.
Lamont said that state government and his office “have to lead by example.”
Lamont was also asked about the story while taking questions after the press conference and, while he expressed concern over the speeding, was also adamant that because the vehicle is accessible to multiple people within the governor’s office “we don’t know who did the speeding.”
He said that Dachs “goes 24/7” and his office goes where he does, but “if there’s any personal use of that car we ought to make sure amends are made.”
Data collected by the University of Connecticut (UConn) dating back to 2015 records 5,100 wrong way crashes, with 2.2 thousand being the result of a failure to keep in the proper lane and 1.9 thousand due to driving either the wrong way or on the wrong side of the road. Fatal injuries have occurred in just under 2 percent of those crashes.
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This story is actually fascinating. Quite possibly the story of the year. Here’s why. Inside Investigator has the data. The speeding event (or events) should be sandwiched by pertinent data. It appears, by this article, that certain data is rather conclusive—: “The vehicle’s tracking system also recorded multiple instances of Dach driving 90 and 100 miles per hour.” The only way for Lamont to delete “Dach” from this statement is to insert one of 9 other authorized names in its place. But to do that, it would almost be necessary to place Dach in the car as a passenger during the event or events. I think the question is would Lamont rather have a single reckless-public-endangering-law-breaking senior advisor take the fall in one Live Streaming FOX BROADCAST News Event, or would he prefer to spread accountability across all 10 users of his 2 vehicles and make speeding sort of like this guilty “habitual” pleasure for his top policy makers? That’s a tough one.