PHOENIX (AZ Family) — Wrong direction accidents are very common in the valley.

The Arizona Department of Transportation spent $4 million installing technology to detect and deter wrong-way drivers and warn others of the danger they face, but does it make a difference and improve safety?

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But in the early Thursday morning crash, a wrong-way driver had previously driven the wrong way for 6 miles on Interstate 17. hitting another car head-on.

Traffic cameras recorded the driver traveling southbound in the northbound lane.

“This was in a much more central location, where a lot of our units were located, so I think at least three units were shown navigating very close to it,” said DPS Sgt. Eric Andrews said, referring to video recorded on traffic cameras.

Despite ADOTS’ wrong-way driver detection system, other drivers actually alerted DPS.

“Our first report was someone calling 911 and saying, ‘Hey, there’s a driver going the wrong way,'” Andrews said.

The system has been in place for six years and the agency says it has detected hundreds of wrong-way drivers.

But our analysis of crash data shows that the number of wrong-way crashes on I-17 remains fairly consistent.

• 2019:6
• 2020: 5
• 2021: 4
• 2022:6
• 2023: 3

ADOT officials say the system can reduce the risk but cannot prevent wrong-way driving.

But DPS officials say their best tactic is DUI enforcement.

“We are all working with ADOT and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to provide extra funding for DUI saturation, checks and DUI enforcement, but ultimately it comes down to the citizens,” Andrews said.

It’s unknown whether the driver was under the influence in Thursday’s crash, so we asked Andrews what more could be done to reduce wrong-way collisions.

“I’m sure there are always engineers trying to come up with something new, like the flow system,” Andrews said. “But you’d have to talk to some engineers to see if there’s something else going on. Unfortunately, that’s not what our agency actually does.”

Statewide data shows there hasn’t been much change in wrong-way crashes either.

Spikes on ramps have often been removed to stop wrong-way drivers, but they are only designed for low-speed traffic and can cause more accidents.

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