There have been four confirmed reports of wrong way driving on John Wayne Parkway in Maricopa in as many days this week.
Maricopa resident Kaysen Klein, 25, was driving on State Route 347 when she passed a driver going northbound in the southbound lanes near Papago Road.
Being a Tuesday morning at 1 a.m., it was too dark to even make out the make or model and all she saw were headlights coming toward her.
“I laid on my horn the entire approach. There was no change in speed. They just kept driving like normal,” Klein said on Facebook. “I called the police. If anybody sees this person, please give a better description because all I could tell was that it was a car.”
Klein said “some lights on that highway could also be super helpful… If I didn’t live there, I would probably almost turn into oncoming traffic, too.”
Hidden Valley resident Jamie Morano responded: “Dude, it’s easy to figure the roads out south of the city. Vehicles have headlights.”
But even in broad daylight, some people in Maricopa seem to think SR 347 follows British road laws.
Hidden Valley resident Bobbie Johnson reported seeing another wrong way driver in the southbound lanes between Clayton Road and Lewis Johnson Drive on Monday at 12:30 p.m.
“They were absolutely clueless! I flashed my lights and laid on the horn,” she said.
Alterra resident Alain Daniel shared dash-camera footage of a company pickup truck stopped facing southbound in the northbound lanes at John Wayne Parkway and Honeycutt Roads on Tuesday at about 2:30 p.m.
Just a half mile north today, another wrong way driver was caught on tape driving south in the northbound lanes before turning right into crossing traffic, and onto Edison Road.
Video footage shared by Senita resident Russel Nolasco shows a pedestrian, seemingly unfazed, walking right on by after the driver turns.
“At least he uses the turn signal,” Nolasco said.
Maricopa Police Department encourages drivers to “move quickly and safely way from the path of the wrong way driver,” and “call 911 as soon as you are pulled to the side of the road, stopped and safe to use your phone,” according to a department spokesperson.
“We know there is an urge to post these immediately on social media, but we need residents to be the eyes and ears in the community and tell the police department what they see happening. If we get information quickly and while it’s happening, the higher likelihood we can located the driver and prevent anyone from getting hurt,” the spokesperson said.
