It’s easy to see how certain auto accidents can happen. Someone in front of you stops or slows down suddenly, and you rear-end them because you’re just a split second late pressing on the brake. Or two cars are backing out of parking spaces into the same aisle and bump each other because they were in each other’s blind spots.

But causing an crash because you’re driving the wrong way? On a highway or freeway?

Believe it or not, that’s a significant problem in the U.S. Statistics show that about 350 people die each year – or almost one per day – in a wrong-way crash. (Granted, many of those are occupants of cars that were traveling in the correct direction and were slammed into by a wrong-way driver, but still.) And just this week, two fatal wrong-way accidents occurred on different stretches of U.S. 95 – one on Monday near Lee Canyon north of Las Vegas, and another today south of Henderson. Both wrong-way drivers died.

So what gives? How does this happen?

Some experts say that drivers sometimes start driving the wrong way after entering a freeway ramp. But most ramps are designed to merge into the intended direction of traffic – meaning drivers would have to make a hairpin turn on these ramps to proceed the wrong way. That makes no sense.

Oh, here’s another piece of data…. studies show that over three out of every five wrong-way accidents occur during the overnight hours – and involve alcohol.

Now we’re on to something. You get a tipsy driver who has trouble seeing in normal conditions, then put him/her behind the wheel on a road with fewer signs or directional markers than an average street – and wham! You’ve got a wrong-way accident.

Moral of the story? Easy. Don’t drive drunk. Be extra careful driving overnight. And don’t go the wrong way on U.S. 95! Contact Naqvi Injury Law for more information.