( )-3/27/18
| Wrong-way drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol will now face felony charges, under a law signed by Governor Doug Ducey Tuesday. The bill,HB 2243, would automatically charge an impaired wrong-way driver with a felony and creates a new aggravated DUI offense for a person who commits a regular, extreme or aggravated DUI violation while driving the wrong way. In 2017, ADOT installed a thermal camera system on I-17 between I-10 and Loop 101 that detects wrong-way vehicles entering the highway, the first in the country. Already this year, officials say the system has detected 12 wrong-way drivers before they could cause a crash. Officials say two out of three wrong-way crashes are caused by impaired drivers and often these drivers have blood-alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit.
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