The driver in Wednesday’s crash on Interstate 71, identified as 22-year-old Taryn Chin, reportedly admitted to police she had four or five drinks before she drove north in the southbound lanes, crashing head-on into a motorist from Kentucky who died at the scene. Chin has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide.
The National Transportation Safety Board said wrong-way drivers cause just 3 percent of all divided highway crashes, yet those crashes are 100 times more likely to be fatal.
Of more than 250,000 crashes in Ohio in 2013, 446 were because of drivers going the wrong way. That number jumped to 467 wrong-way drivers involved in crashes in 2014, the last year statistics were available.
Although these kinds of crashes are not common, Sgt. Jeff Kramer of the Ohio State Highway Patrol agreed they’re 100 times more likely to be deadly.
“If you’re going 55 mph and the car coming toward you is going 55 mph, that’s well over a 100 mph impact,” Kramer said.
Had Pohlabeln, whose license had been suspended, survived and been convicted, the state would have defined him as a hard-core drunk driver — someone with multiple offenses or who causes harm to themselves or others while driving drunk.
Although nothing can be done to prevent the two most recent fatal wrong-way crashes involving impaired drivers, lawmakers say they can try to prevent others.
State Rep. Niraj Antani, a Republican from Miamisburg, said House Bill 388, still in committee, would require known drunk drivers to install special ignition devices. “By attaching these devices that require them to test their breath for alcohol before they drive, we can literally keep them from driving that car.”
The bill would require every drunk driving offender to install a “blow and go” device in their vehicles. It costs between $200 and $300 to install and an additional $100 a month to operate.
“There are repeat drunk drivers. They need to make sure they’re not on the roads no matter what,” Antani said.
Other programs are looking at ways to prevent drivers, impaired or otherwise, from going the wrong way on the highway.
Ohio posts signs to warn drivers not to enter interstate exit ramps.
“People just don’t really pay attention anymore,” said Candace Cullum, who said she was hit by a wrong-way driver. “I was in the right lane to turn right, and the lady basically just turned into me instead of turning onto the road she was supposed to.”
Some states have considered using wrong-way spikes to prevent crashes, such as those seen in parking garages. But experts say they are really only effective when cars are traveling less than 5 mph and are not feasible for highway ramps.
Two weeks ago, California announced a pilot program focused on improved warning devices, such as lights and sensors.
Pennsylvania last month decided it also will immediately alert local police to wrong-way highway drivers, instead of just the state patrol.
One method that has seen success is in Texas, where the North Texas Tollway Authority said wrong-way crashes dropped by 60 percent after it installed red pavement reflectors and flashing lights on exit ramps.
However, troopers in Ohio said those solutions are expensive and they’re not expecting to see any of them here in the near future.
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