Head-on collisions may be one of the most dangerous types of motor vehicle accidents in Kentucky to be involved in. A recent accident killing multiple people involved in a head-on crash.
Drivers may be aware that winter driving has its own risks. However, winter had not even arrived yet with its icy and snowy effects on the roads, when Fox News reported about the devastating collision involving a family of five.
Family of five lost to a head-on collision
All five family members, mother, father, and three children under the age of 10, lost their lives. One of the children had the challenge of Down Syndrome. The news report specified that this family was heading to visit with another family member, when another vehicle hit their vehicle head on.
According to Inside Edition, there are over 300 fatalities each year that result from wrong-way drivers colliding into other vehicles in the United States. Moreover, if both cars are traveling at 40 miles per hour, there is nearly always at least one death resulting.
A new promising technology to prevent head-on collisions
One state has been trying to prevent more deaths by using technology. The state has installed the technology on certain highway on-ramps to test it out.
When a driver improperly enters the wrong way, light-up signs activate to alert the driver that he or she is driving into the highway from the wrong direction. A camera will take a picture of the vehicle if the light-up alert does not cause him to stop his path. Alarms also go off at the state’s command center. The state’s Highway Patrol receives a copy of the image of the vehicle and its location. Other signs located above the highway also alert the other drivers of the fact that a wrong-way vehicle is heading toward them.
The technology may be performing as hoped. All but one vehicle operator of 42 drivers that improperly entered a ramp containing the technology either turned themselves around or the alerted police were able to safely intercept them.