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Wrong-Way Impaired Driving Now a Felony in Arizona

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill last week, which will now allow wrong-way drivers on the freeway to be charges with a felony if they are suspected of being impaired.

The law follows Ducey’s call for action in his January State of the State Address.

“We wake up too frequently these days to the report of another death on our highways…in many cases, it comes back to drugs or alcohol” he said during the speech,” said Ducey in his January address.


A person found guilty of driving the wrong way will be fined $500 and required to attend traffic school. Those suspected of being impaired will face felony charges.

In 2017, more than 1,700 wrong-way vehicles were reported on Arizona roads. Intoxication played a large part in the number of wrong-way drivers, according to Col. Frank Milstead.

“If you look at the numbers of arrested drunk drivers over the last 10 years, they haven’t changed a lot because we as a society haven’t gotten in front of this issue and decided it’s unacceptable,” Milstead said in an interview with KTAR News 92.3 FM.