State police: 18-year-old driver impaired during wrong-way crash on I-91 ramp in East Windsor
Two people were injured Thursday in a wrong-way crash on an I-91 ramp in East Windsor that state police said was caused by an impaired driver.
An 18-year-old male was charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, failure to drive in the proper lane, driving the wrong way on a divided highway and operating a motor vehicle without a license, police said. The Courant is withholding his name under new guidelines that seek to generally publish only the names of people accused of the most serious crimes.
A passenger in the car the 18-year-old was driving and the other driver were taken to Hartford Hospital to be treated for what troopers said appeared to be minor injuries.
According to a police report, the crash happened about 3:50 p.m. on the off-ramp from I-91 North at Exit 45.
The car the 18-year-old was driving, a 2021 Honda Passport Touring, was headed west on Route 140 but then turned left and went up the off-ramp, traveling in the wrong direction, the report said.
The Honda struck the front of 2011 GMC Sierra that was stopped at a light, according to the police report.
Troopers determined that the 18-year-old was operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs, state police said. The report didn’t say whether the 18-year-old was believed to have consumed alcohol, drugs or both.
There has been a rash of wrong-way crashes in Connecticut this year. Two separate head-on collisions happened within 20 minutes of each other on Feb. 26, killing six people, including a student at Southern Connecticut State University.
On Monday, a man died when he drove in the wrong direction on I-84 in Plainville and slammed into an oncoming car, state police said. The other driver survived.
Wrong-way crashes often result in death and serious injuries due to the force of impact. A study by AAA released in March 2021 found that between 2010 and 2018 there were 2,921 fatal wrong-way crashes resulting in 3,885 deaths — an average of 430 deaths per year and an increase from the 360 yearly deaths from 2004-09.
About 60% of wrong-way drivers had blood-alcohol levels of 0.08 or higher, according to the study. Age also was a factor.
Highway drivers may take steps to avoid being struck by a wrong-way driver by staying in the center or right lane, Sgt. Dawn Pagan said earlier this month. Wrong-way drivers often travel in the left lane, thinking it’s the right one.
Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.
