(WXYZ) — Doan Duchene has been driving for 68 years.
"As a driver, my worst nightmare would be a head-on collision," said Duchene.
Since April 22, 2023, there have been several wrong-way crashes on metro Detroit freeways. The most recent was on Sunday, Sept. 3, when a wrong-way driver on I-75 hit several cars.
"Besides you are going the wrong way, you may be killing a mother, a grandmother, or someone's children," said Duchene.
Michigan State Police data shows that there were over 282,000 vehicle crashes in 2021, of which 421 were due to wrong-way drivers.
MSP Lt. Mike Shaw says such accidents are typically due to impaired or distracted driving.
"These crashes usually kill everybody, that's the sad part of it, about the whole thing. About a 1,000 people died on Michigan roadways last year, all preventable crashes," Shaw said.
"When you encounter a wrong-way driver, how many of them are intoxicated/under the influence or distracted?" I asked.
"Equal," he said.
According to Shaw, usually, the crashes are so horrific that survivors don't remember anything.
So what do people do if they encounter a wrong-way driver? John Russi from the Traffic Safety Association of Macomb County says their defensive driving course addresses such situations.
"It's a kind of thing you got think ahead of time, so when the emergency occurs, you react," said Russi.
In the event of a crash, Russi said to do four things: Observe the road, steer to the right, slow down the vehicle, and if you have to, drive off the road.
Meanwhile, Shaw recommends always paying attention on the road because the less distracted you are while driving, the better reaction time you will have.
Also, by not being a distracted driver, Shaw says you can help the police by providing more details about incidents, especially the exact location of a distracted driver. Lastly, always remember to buckle up before driving.
