August 8

San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations

We recently told you in our traffic ticket blog about San Antonio’s effort to reduce the number of San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations and driving accidents on our highways.  TxDOT, SAPD, the City of San Antonio Public Works Department, Bexar County Sherriff’s Department, Federal Highway Administration, and the Texas Transportation Institute teamed up to create the San Antonio Wrong Way Driver Task Force after an email was sent by SAPD Lt. Billy Beisenbach, Jr. to his peers addressing the wrong-way driving issue and starting a conversation that eventually led to brainstorming on behalf of SAPD officers as to how to address the problem.  Not long after this, Stephanie Brown was killed in a collision with a wrong-way driver; she was one of SAPD’s own.

Avoid San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations.

After forming the task force, TxDOT began installing new wrong-way signs on twenty-seven exit ramps on U.S. 281 between downtown and North Loop 1604.  Since these installations last spring, TxDOT has noted that the rate of sightings of wrong-way drivers in this area is down by almost 30%, from 2.6 incidents per month to 1.9.  However, wrong-way driver sightings and San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations were at a rate of about twenty sightings per month on highways.

The $500,000 project has a second phase of installations that will run along I-35 around the downtown area, which perhaps will continue to cut down on these incidents.  TxDOT also wants to install radar detectors on 281 that immediately inform police officers that a wrong-way driver is on that particular stretch of highway to avoid San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations.

Brian G. Fariello, P.E., traffic management engineer for the TxDOT San Antonio District, said in a recent release to local news agencies, “Safety is our No. 1 priority at TxDOT, and now that we have the numbers showing that our investments in highway improvements are working to save more lives, this is something all taxpayers and drivers can celebrate.  Drivers will continue to see more improvements such as new lighted wrong way signs along Interstate 35 between Loop 1604 and Schertz, and there are plans to locate the signs along Interstate 10 exit ramps as part of a highway improvement project on the northwest side of town.”

Look Out for Wrong-Way Traffic Signs.

TransGuide, the people who operate the signs that alert drivers about construction, congestion, and missing individuals, logs and reports statistics on wrong-way drivers.  They found that before the task force installed the flashing “Wrong Way” LED signs, there were 31 instances of wrong-way driving on 281.  This was during the period between March 2011 and February 2012.  From March-June of 2012, signs were installed; after that, specifically from July 2012 to January 2013, there were only 13.  That’s a big difference, and a sign of success as well as fewer San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations.

The signs are very bright, and are meant to grab the attention of the two types of drivers who end up driving the wrong way: confused and intoxicated persons.  The driver who killed Stephanie Brown had a blood-alcohol content that was three times the legal limit…perhaps a bright, flashing sign might have warned him that he was about to make a fatal mistake.  With the number of instances down from the period before these efforts were made by the task force, perhaps that many more lives have been saved.  When these installations reach our other highways, we’ll likely avoid even more wrong-way driving tragedies.  It’s always great to see our tax dollars at work, especially when the project becomes a success, and even more when it saves lives.

Don’t fight your San Antonio Wrong-Way Traffic Ticket Citations alone.

If you have any questions regarding traffic tickets in San Antonio, Texas, please call Justin Coquat at the Coquat Law Firm at 210-745-2825.


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