CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A wrong-way driver was arrested over the weekend for allegedly driving under the influence and resisting arrest. The incident serves as a painful reminder of how easy it is for drivers to access parts of the roadway from the wrong side.
"What does tend to increase over the holidays, people go out and celebrate and sometimes they celebrate to much," Corpus Christi Police Assistant Chief David Blackmon said.
It has been just over two years since a fatal wrong-way incident on the Harbor Bridge claimed the lives of two people and landed Roxanne Palacios behind bars. Since then, many of upgrades have been made by the Texas Department of Transportation near that stretch of roadway to combat wrong-way driving.
However, police said accidents can still occur in the blink of an eye.
"This individual was driving the wrong way on SPID or [Highway] 358 over 100 mph, the wrong way," Blackmon said.
TxDOT spokesperson Rickey Dailey said that they have implemented wrong-way signs up along exit ramps along Highway 358 and 286.
He said initiatives such as these can help bring down an alarming statistic in our area.
"In the Corpus Christi district, which covers Corpus Christi and the ten counties in the Coastal Bend, we have had 89 fatal crashes," Dailey said.
3NEWS asked Dailey if any of the crashes were related to wrong-way driving but he was not able to breakdown those numbers.
For drivers like Melody Urquizo, last weekend's incident is a stark reminder of how quickly things can change.
"We almost got hit by the wrong-way driver," she said.
In that moment, Urquizo said that all she could do was think quickly to avoid an accident.
"I just see like headlights coming straight toward us. And I had to move, swerve to the right and luckily no one was nearby us," she said.
Blackmon wants to remind residents that officers do not follow on the wrong side of the road when responding to calls like these. Instead, they pursue on the right side and divert cars off the freeway to limit the impact wrong-way drivers may pose.