In the United Kingdom, there is a problem with traffic in the opposite direction on motorways

One of the drivers of the problem is GPS – not the software, but the way it is interpreted by the drivers

The number of wrong-way driving on UK motorways has increased by around 13%, with almost 900 incidents recorded in a year.

Drivers’ groups are concerned about the number of reported incidents and are calling for technology to be put on motorways to prevent and reverse this rise in fatalities on English roads. By satellite, reports Guardian.

UK national highways statistics, obtained by the PA news agency, show there were 872 incidents of wrong-way driving on English motorways in the year to June 19, 102 more than last year. These numbers average out to about 16 incidents per week Independent.

The figures were released in response to a request for information made by PA and relate to unconfirmed cases received by UK Motorways’ regional operations centres.

Several cases of wrong-way driving on British highways have already been reported by the British media. One of them was the case of a 15-year-old boy who stole a van and collided with a taxi on the M606 in June 2022 in Bradford, United Kingdom, killing three people.

And Gloucestershire Police, according to the Independent, recently released images of a four-vehicle chain-reaction involving a drunken woman on the M5 near Tewkesbury in October last year.

The Guardian also reported on a case in June this year which appealed to West Mercia Police to share images. Dash cameras (Cameras on car dashboard) after the car was involved in a head-on collision with a van which officers believe was “deliberately driving in the wrong direction at high speed” on the M5 near Worcestershire.

Edmund King, chairman of the Motoring Association, was quoted by the Guardian as saying, “The increasing number of oncoming vehicles on motorways is frightening and potentially fatal”. He stressed that most of these incidents are caused by drunk drivers who “shouldn’t be on the roads”. King added, “The median layout and signage is designed to ensure that entering the highway in the right direction is intuitive.” “However, sometimes drivers follow GPS directions without thinking – for example ‘exit third’ without checking signs, so they make mistakes.”