PHOENIX — Early Thursday morning, two people were killed when a wrong-way driver slammed into another car on I-17, officials said. The driver who was going in the wrong direction died and a passenger of the other vehicle died.
The Arizona Department of Transportation said thermal cameras along I-17 detected the wrong-way driver near Bethany Home Road and prompted "Wrong-Way Vehicle Ahead" alerts on its message boards above the freeway before the crash.
“This is not a problem we are going to be able to enforce out of or arrest our way out of, or ADOT can engineer their way out of," Department of Public Safety Sgt. Eric Andrews said when speaking with 12News about the crash.
DPS officials released some statistics on wrong-way driving in Arizona on Friday. They said 1,501 wrong-way drivers were reported in Arizona between Jan. 1 and Nov. 7.
There have been 51 wrong-way crashes this year, with nine of those being fatal, DPS officials said. 157 people have been arrested for driving the wrong way and the highway where most wrong-way drivers have been reported is, not surprisingly, I-10.
The Arizona Department of Transportation recorded 126 wrong-way incidents in 2023, including 13 that ended in deadly crashes.
Along with thermal cameras, ADOT told 12News it installed hundreds of wrong-way signs and raised pavement markers with reflectors that glow red toward cars driving the wrong way.
ADOT noted this technology cannot stop someone from becoming a wrong-way driver, most of whom are impaired.
“This isn’t going to stop until society takes responsibility for their actions while they’re drinking and make that conscious decision to take a ride share, to take public transportation, to ask a friend for a ride, to stay somewhere overnight, but as long as they’re making a decision to be impaired and drive, this is always going to happen," Andrews said.
Officials said if you see an alert message on the highway that there is a wrong-way driver ahead, immediately get into the far right lane and exit as soon as possible.
Editor's note: The above video is from a previous broadcast.
Watch 12News for free
You can now watch 12News content anytime, anywhere thanks to the 12+ app!
The free 12+ app from 12News lets users stream live events — including daily newscasts like "Today in AZ" and "12 News" and our daily lifestyle program, "Arizona Midday"—on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.
12+ showcases live video throughout the day for breaking news, local news, weather and even an occasional moment of Zen showcasing breathtaking sights from across Arizona.
Users can also watch on-demand videos of top stories, local politics, I-Team investigations, Arizona-specific features and vintage videos from the 12News archives.
Roku: Add the channel from the Roku store or by searching for "12 News KPNX."
Amazon Fire TV: Search for "12 News KPNX" to find the free 12+ app to add to your account, or have the 12+ app delivered directly to your Amazon Fire TV through Amazon.com or the Amazon app.