ARIZONA NEWS

Watch the moment Arizona DPS troopers stop a wrong-way driver on a Phoenix freeway

May 18, 2023, 1:00 PM

PHOENIX — A pair of Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers had to take matters into their own hands last week when they spotted a driver going the wrong way on a Phoenix freeway.

The troopers were completing a traffic stop May 11 at about 2 a.m. on northbound State Route 51 near Shea Boulevard when they witnessed a white Honda Civic driving southbound in the HOV lane.

They ditched the traffic stop and jumped into their cars to catch up to the wrong-way vehicle.

Eventually, the troopers reentered the freeway at Glendale Avenue and readied to stop the car.

One trooper’s car rammed the vehicle head-on, stopping it and bringing to an end a miles-long journey that could have ended differently.

The wrong-way vehicle’s driver, an 81-year-old woman, was taken to the hospital for injuries that weren’t life threatening.

Authorities said the woman was merely confused and that impairment wasn’t a factor.

The troopers were also taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

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Watch the moment Arizona DPS troopers stop a wrong-way driver on a Phoenix freeway