10 wrong-way crashes on expressways this year; 2 dead and 14 injured

[Financial News] A total of 10 wrong-way crashes on expressways were recorded from the beginning of this year through September. That was more than triple the three recorded during the same period last year, and already exceeded last year’s annual total of six.
On the 10th, data obtained from the Korea Expressway Corporation by Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, showed that two people were killed and 14 injured in wrong-way crashes from January to September this year. The number of fatalities was the same as last year’s full-year figure, while the number of injuries was twice last year’s annual total of seven.
A total of 46 wrong-way crashes occurred on expressways from 2021 through September this year. The crashes left 17 people dead and 51 injured.
By type, 26 cases involved vehicles making U-turns on expressway mainlines, accounting for 56.5% of the total. They left 10 people dead and 22 injured. There were 16 crashes involving drivers mistakenly entering an interchange (IC) or junction (JCT), leaving seven people dead and 22 injured.
Driver error was the most common cause, accounting for 16 crashes, followed by drunk driving with 13 and illness with three. The cause could not be determined in 14 crashes. Of this year’s 10 crashes, five were attributed to driver error and the cause of four could not be determined.
Rep. Hwang called for stronger intelligent safety systems that not only prevent drivers from mistakenly entering ramps, but also detect wrong-way driving on expressway mainlines early and issue warnings, noting that more than half of the crashes involved U-turns on mainlines.
[email protected] Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter