DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - There may be a new cell phone app that leads to a solution to wrong way drivers.
The North Texas Council of Governments (NCOG) says it is working with both Ford and General Motors in development of a cellphone app that can marry two technologies: self parking cars and GPS directions.
"We're looking at technologies where that cell phone in that car, does it know it's going the wrong way because of GIS and other coordinates?" said Michael Morris, Director of Transportation for NCOG. "We're looking at technology applications on whoever can hear this voice on either shutting that car off, pulling it over to the side of the road or communicating directly to the vehicles that are coming at that vehicle that there's a wrong-way driver coming at you."
In one of the latest wrong-way accidents, two were killed in Arlington when a driver in the 4300 block of Matlock Road. Police think believe a passenger car was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of Matlock. That vehicle struck a motorist who was traveling northbound which caused a major crash involving two additional cars for a total of four vehicles involved in the collision.
An app, authorities say, could not only get the wrong-way driver off the road, it can alert anyone in his path.
"If we can get an amber alert automatically pinging our phone, can we have the similar wrong-way driver pinging our phone as part of that process?" said Morris.
KRLD News takes an In-Depth look at the deadly issue of wrong-way drivers in our latest podcast.