HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Wrong-way drivers can cause serious and even deadly crashes, and state officials are giving a closer look at the technology used to help deter the problem.
Yarrellys Ruiz was driving on I-275 heading home two years ago when she noticed a police officer’s car behind her, but the danger was headed her way directly.
“In that moment when I was looking in the mirror and was going back and forth looking where I was driving and him, there was a drunk driver coming towards us,” said Ruiz. “Jesse Madsen, which is the police officer that was driving that vehicle, went in front of my vehicle and stopped the drunk driver from hitting me.”
Master Police Officer Jesse Madsen was killed that day. His police car was hit by a wrong-way driver.
Ruiz credits Madsen for saving her life and the lives of others, though the incident deeply affected her.
"When the accident happened, it took a long time for me to drive again, especially on 275,” said Ruiz.
It’s a problem you hear abouttime and again with wrong-way drivers, and the thought is scary: someone coming at you, and by the time you notice them, it might be too late to react.
ABC Action News wanted to know some of the countermeasures the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has to help keep people safe.
"We get an alert immediately here in this building, FHP gets an alert immediately, and we can notify the public right away,” said Kris Carson, an FDOT spokesperson.
Carson highlighted a traffic management center, saying they’re there 24/7 monitoring cameras on the interstate. She said if they see a wrong-way driver, they can let Florida Highway Patrol know right away.
"What we’ve done over the last few years, we have almost 50 ramps covered in the Tampa Bay Area that have wrong-way devices. Every ramp, in general, has huge red and white do not enter signs or wrong way signs,” said Carson. “We've gone back, and we’ve added these signs that flash, blink, get someone's attention, and we have a really good return rate where people will see them, and they'll turn around if by chance they go up the ramp the wrong way."
Carson also sent this list of existing ramp systems and ramp systems that are under construction.
Even with all that technology, both officials and those impacted urge people to make smart choices behind the wheel to make certain everyone gets home safely.
"There's so many things that you can do, but at the end of the day, the best thing is don't drink and drive,” said Ruiz.
