Video shows wrong-way driver before fatal Phoenix freeway wreck
Jun 8, 2017, 11:29 AM | Updated: 2:57 pm
PHOENIX — Video released Thursday showed a wrong-way driver just minutes before he smashed head-on into another car on a Phoenix freeway.
Arizona Department of Public Safety video first showed a car driving erratically at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The driver, later identified as 56-year-old Ronald Wayne Mollenhauer, appeared to speed down a drop-off lane before nearly striking a pedestrian, who gave him a dirty look.
Mollenhauer then appeared to park on the top story of a parking garage for a short time before proceeding down the ramp.
Mollenhauer then exited the structure and sped under a barrier gate at a pay booth.
The video then showed Mollenhauer driving on the wrong side of the road on Sky Harbor Boulevard. It ended with him heading the wrong-way on Interstate 10.
Mollenhauer struck another car head-on several minutes later on State Route 51. Two people, including Mollenhauer, were killed in the collision. A third person was injured.
After the crash, Gov. Doug Ducey called on state agencies to combat the deadly problem. Nearly 740 wrong-way drivers have been reported on Arizona freeways this year.
Ducey said he wanted DPS and other agencies to increase enforcement and public awareness of the problem. He also ordered that a planned pilot program involving new technology be accelerated and broadened.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
