Near 2 crashes on 2 consecutive days!

I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.

Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
(again!).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lebanon, July 10 - A Zionsville woman died Sunday morning in a accident
on I-65 near Lebanon.

Police say 19-year-old Kelly O'Conner's black Toyota was traveling in
the southbound lanes when she lost control. She crossed into the
northbound lanes near the Lebanon exit and crash into a blue Buick.

O'Conner was killed instantly. The couple in the Buick had minor injuries.

The crash shutdown northbound traffic on I 65 for several hours while
State Police investigated.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 dead in I-69 crash; man went wrong way
Ohioan southbound in a northbound lane hits an Anderson woman's car head-on.

By Lesley Rogers Barrett



Carrie Brizendine called her parents about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, letting
them know she was on her way home to Anderson.

The 22-year-old had been at a Mary Kay meeting in Indianapolis, where
she was learning how to sell the cosmetics line.

At 11:30 p.m., Joan Brizendine woke up, and her daughter's car wasn't there.

"We called every hospital and then found out at 1 a.m. she was in that
horrible crash," Joan Brizendine said.

Fishers Police are still trying to figure out how a 71-year-old Ohio man
ended up going the wrong way on I-69, crashing into Carrie Brizendine's
car, killing himself and the young woman.

The first 911 call came in at 9:59 p.m. Tuesday, with the report of a
driver heading south in a northbound lane with the headlights off, said
Fishers Police Sgt. Gerry Hepp.

The caller warned the dispatcher "you might have an accident here really
soon."

Then, at 10:01 p.m., callers notified police about the crash.

Brizendine was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier north when her car was
struck head-on.

Police are not releasing the name of the Defiance, Ohio, man because
they haven't notified his family.

"Defiance police tried with landlords and still haven't come up with
anything," Hepp said.

The man either drove his 1996 Lincoln Continental across the grassy
median on I-69 or went the wrong way on an access ramp, possibly Exit
10, Hepp said.

The accident happened about two miles south of the Ind. 238 exit.

A third driver, Glen D. Jennings, 18, Fountaintown, was driving a 1994
Infiniti north behind Brizendine's car. After the Continental struck
Brizendine's car head-on, Jennings' Infiniti struck the Continental.

Jennings was treated for minor injuries and released.

Brizendine worked for Star Financial Bank in Anderson and lived with her
parents.

She helped her father, the Rev. Brad Brizendine, at Greenbriar Community
Church, playing piano and teaching Sunday school.

When she was just 12, Carrie went on her first mission trip to Haiti.

"She was very driven," Joan Brizendine said. "She saw the need to give
of herself. She is solid as a rock."

The family, which includes Carrie's five older brothers, who range in
age from 23 to 32, are leaning heavily on their faith, Joan Brizendine said.

"We will survive with his help."

Investigators asked that anyone with information about the crash call
the Fishers Police Department at (317) 595-3300.

"We hope with the publicity, someone remembers seeing something and
comes forward," Hepp said.

> Fishers Police are still trying to figure out how a 71-year-old Ohio man
> ended up going the wrong way on I-69, crashing into Carrie Brizendine's
> car, killing himself and the young woman.
>
> The first 911 call came in at 9:59 p.m. Tuesday, with the report of a
> driver heading south in a northbound lane with the headlights off, said
> Fishers Police Sgt. Gerry Hepp.


Sorry to followup my own post, but one likely reason for going the wrong
way on the interstate with lights off at night is a suicide attempt.

John F. Carr wrote:

> In article >,
> 223rem > wrote:
>
>>I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
>>stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.
>
>
> One week a few years ago I saw two crashes and the immediate
> aftermath of a third. A right angle collision at a traffic
> signal, somebody wiping out in the opposite lanes of a freeway,
> and a probably drunk driver lying beside his car which had
> its front end wrapped around a tree. I wondered if somebody
> was out to get me.
>
Just a Poisson distribution, nothing else

223rem wrote:
> > Fishers Police are still trying to figure out how a 71-year-old Ohio man
> > ended up going the wrong way on I-69, crashing into Carrie Brizendine's
> > car, killing himself and the young woman.
> >
> > The first 911 call came in at 9:59 p.m. Tuesday, with the report of a
> > driver heading south in a northbound lane with the headlights off, said
> > Fishers Police Sgt. Gerry Hepp.
>
> Sorry to followup my own post, but one likely reason for going the wrong
> way on the interstate with lights off at night is a suicide attempt.

Really? Suicidal people usually don't take someone else out with them.
(In the case of a murder-suicide, the main motive is murder).

223rem wrote:
> I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
> stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.
>
> Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
> on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
> (again!).
>
<snip>

Why is this such a problem in the US? You guys report morons like this
on a regular basis. Australia's licencing system is ordinary by world
standards, yet I have never seen anyone driving the wrong way down a
divided road.

If someone were to enter a freeway/motorway the wrong way, they'd be
greeted with this sign:

<http://www.hobbiesplus.com.au/signspotters/wrongwaygoback0197.JPG>

On low speed divided roads a standard "no entry" sign and/or "keep left"
sign will remind any morons which side of the road they have to be on.

Are there similar signs in the US? (keep left signs = keep right signs
over there of course :-) )

--
SL

"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over
to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they
succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it"

Joseph Goebbels - Nazi Minister of Propaganda, 1933 - 1945

223rem wrote:
> I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
> stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.
>
> Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
> on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
> (again!).
<snip>

Why is this such a problem in the US? You guys report morons like this
on a regular basis. Australia's licencing system is ordinary by world
standards, yet I have never seen anyone driving the wrong way down a
divided road.

If someone were to enter a freeway/motorway the wrong way, they'd be
greeted with this sign:

<http://www.hobbiesplus.com.au/signspotters/wrongwaygoback0197.JPG>

On low speed divided roads a standard "no entry" sign and/or "keep left"
sign will remind any morons which side of the road they have to be on.

Are there similar signs in the US? (keep left signs = keep right signs
over there of course :-) )

--
SL

"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over
to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they
succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it"

Joseph Goebbels - Nazi Minister of Propaganda, 1933 - 1945

Sir Lex wrote:
> 223rem wrote:
>
>> I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
>> stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.
>>
>> Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
>> on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
>> (again!).
>
> <snip>
>
> Why is this such a problem in the US? You guys report morons like this
> on a regular basis. Australia's licencing system is ordinary by world
> standards, yet I have never seen anyone driving the wrong way down a
> divided road.
>
> If someone were to enter a freeway/motorway the wrong way, they'd be
> greeted with this sign:
>
> <http://www.hobbiesplus.com.au/signspotters/wrongwaygoback0197.JPG>
>

Yes, we have. But ours dont say 'go back'!! Maybe thats why
geezer didnt.

In article >,
Sir Lex > wrote:
>223rem wrote:
>> I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
>> stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.
>>
>> Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
>> on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
>> (again!).
><snip>
>
>Why is this such a problem in the US? You guys report morons like this
>on a regular basis. Australia's licencing system is ordinary by world
>standards, yet I have never seen anyone driving the wrong way down a
>divided road.

It's not a big problem. It's a big country. I've never seen any such
incident, but I've certainly heard of them. Usually involving someone
completely drunk.

>Are there similar signs in the US? (keep left signs = keep right signs
>over there of course :-) )

Yes. But the people involved either don't see them, don't care, or
don't have their headlights and can't see them.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

223rem wrote:

> I ended up spending close to 3 hours combined
> stuck on the 2 interstates while the cops were doing their thing.
>
> Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
> on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
> (again!).

Well.... They say these things come in threes, so beware !

Graham

Sir Lex wrote:
> 223rem wrote:
> >
> > Both crashes involved a driver going the wrong way
> > on the interstate. The second accident was geezer caused
> > (again!).
> <snip>
>
> Why is this such a problem in the US? You guys report morons like this
> on a regular basis. Australia's licencing system is ordinary by world
> standards, yet I have never seen anyone driving the wrong way down a
> divided road.

Well the US has about 20x as many people as Aus, and more highways.
A couple of years ago in NZ, there was a case of a geezer
driving the wrong way around a 2-lane roundabout (and he
persisted in this even when a policeman was flagging him to
stop). When they finally stopped him, he said he was lost, and
named a destination about 20km away..