METRO DETROIT (WXYZ) — Each year, around 450 people die in wrong-way crashes on freeways across the country, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. And while these crashes are usually rare, they're usually deadly due to head-on collisions and high speeds. The Michigan Department of Transportation is doing its part to try to stop the crashes before they happen.
Watch Ali Hoxie's video report
If this technology can just save one life, then it's well worth it. That's the message from Pastor Anthony Starks. I spoke to him about the loss of his cousin, who died a little over a year ago in a devastating wrong-way crash.
“I just hope that his memory will continue to be in the hearts of those who face accidents and tragedies such as this," Starks told me.
Starks has been a pastor at Life Church in Detroit for the past 24 years. But that time hasn't come without his own ups and downs in life, including the loss of his second cousin, Antonio Reed.
“He made everybody smile, everybody happy, he was a hugger, he hugged his mom the night before he passed.”
It was the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2024 when a driver entered onto the Lodge going the wrong way, near Motor City Casino. Both the driver and Antonio died. Antonio was 33 at the time of his death and a Dad to three children.
“They’re making it, but of course without their Dad," Starks said.
It's tragedies like this one that MDOT is looking to stop before they happen. Recently, MDOT installed flashing wrong-way signs throughout several ramps in metro Detroit, including at I-75 and Mack, I-696 and Woodward, and I-375 and Larned, just to name a few. The signs are still being tested and should be up and running in a couple of months.
It follows recent success in Grand Rapids; the flashing signs were installed along US-131 there. MDOT says since that installation, there has been a 61 percent reduction in the number of drivers going the wrong way on ramps and a 54 percent reduction in crashes.
Keep in mind that the small number of crashes to begin with could explain the higher percentages of success. MDOT is working to expand the flashing lights to more areas in metro Detroit, including on The Lodge, I-375, I-76, and I-696.
But pinpointing locations isn't always easy.
“I think one of the biggest challenges we have is that we don’t really always know where people are getting on, right? So a lot of people, when state police do get to the vehicle to turn it around, they don’t always know where they got on," said Michele Mueller.
Mueller is the manager for MDOT's Connected, Automated, and Electrification Department. She tells me there are opportunities to expand this technology.
“When we look into the future, to say how can we use technology to give those alerts, so that we can give that information, say maybe in our operations center, we do co-located with the state police," Mueller said.
For Pastor Starks, anything that can help is a good thing.
“I believe if it won’t help save a lot of lives, I think it will help save a life," Starks said. “Even if it can just help one family.” “Even if it can just help one family, that would be one less funeral, that would be one less empty space at a table.”
