I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller who was struck by an SUV going the wrong way on the Indiana Toll Road.

A wrong-way crash results when one vehicle travels in the opposite direction of the legal flow of traffic on the roadway and collides with a vehicle traveling on the same roadway in the correct direction.

This often results in a head-on collision. Head-on collisions are characterized by head trauma, spinal cord injuries, organ damage, neck, chest, and abdominal injuries, as well as pelvic and extremity injuries.

The Indiana Toll Road has a Wrong-Way Driver Detection and Alert System.

The detection system utilizes three zones.

An initial detection zone, a self-correction zone, and an alert zone.

The system uses thermal detectors and high-speed cameras to ascertain when a driver is going the wrong way on an entry or exit ramp and this automatically activates a self-correction warning.

A self-correction warning is a flashing warning light to alert the driver that they may be inadvertently approaching a ramp from the wrong direction. At the same time, Indiana State Police are immediately notified about the driver. Also, live video is sent to the traffic management center of the company that manages the toll road.

The Indiana Toll Road currently has WWD detection systems on four ramps at three locations.

In 2022, this system detected 97 wrong-way drivers on the toll road and alerted them they were about to enter lanes of travel in the wrong direction. Of those 97 drivers, 95 of them self-corrected and avoided driving the wrong way on the Toll Road.

The company that manages the toll road alerted law enforcement and other drivers (through the toll road’s dynamic message signs) on the road about the 2 drivers who didn’t self-correct.

Common characteristics of wrong-way drivers include drivers who are unfamiliar with the toll road, intoxicated and distracted drivers, fatigued drivers, as well as elderly drivers, and drivers who have poor eyesight, or who become confused.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”