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CT DOT installing new detection systems to help prevent wrong-way crashes. What you need to know.

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CT DOT installing new detection systems to help prevent wrong-way crashes. What you need to know.


The Connecticut Department of Transportation this week began fulfilling part of a state law passed earlier this year requiring the installation of wrong-way driver detection systems at 120 of the state’s most at-risk highway off-ramps.

The new detection system installations come on the heels of a particularly deadly year on Connecticut’s roads in 2022, when 13 crashes involving wrong-way drivers took the lives of 23 people. So far in 2023, six people have died during four wrong-way driver crashes, including a crash that killed state Rep. Quentin Williams, a Middletown Democrat who was struck by a wrong-way driver in January after leaving the governor’s inaugural ball.

“That’s six too many,” said Josh Morgan, spokesperson for the DOT. “There shouldn’t be any wrong-way crashes.”

According to Morgan, the DOT is required by law — passed in the wake of Williams’ death — to install systems that detect wrong-way drivers at 120 highway off-ramps in the state. Installations began this week when laws passed earlier this year took effect on Oct. 1. The timeline of the installations will largely depend on the length and severity of colder weather in the coming weeks and months.

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Morgan said the DOT first installed a wrong-way driver detection system in Danbury in early 2020 as part of a pilot program and then about a dozen more at various locations in the state. The older systems included flashing lights to let a driver know he or she was on the wrong side of the highway.

The newer systems now being installed include two detection zones, the first of which activates illuminated signage, which is followed by a second zone that notifies Connecticut State Police and the Highway Operations Center if the driver continues far enough up the ramp.

Though the law passed earlier this year mandates the installation of 120 of these new systems, Morgan said DOT officials would like to see one put in place at each of Connecticut’s off-ramps that have been deemed “high-risk.” These include ramps that are close to establishments that serve alcohol as well as those that are adjacent to an on-ramp.

“All 236 identified as high-risk we’d like to see done,” Morgan said.

Morgan added that, while data has shown wrong-way driver detection systems reduce the likelihood of these types of crashes, alcohol impairment continues to be the underlying issue responsible in a majority of accidents involving a wrong-way driver. He said “virtually all” of these crashes involve an impaired driver, with some motorists who are two to three times the legal limit.

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“It’s sad and disappointing that people are choosing to get behind the wheel when they shouldn’t,” Morgan said.



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Connecticut

Smoke from MA fire noticed from Southington to New Haven

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Smoke from MA fire noticed from Southington to New Haven


GREAT BARRINGTON, MA (WFSB) – Smoke from a large fire in Massachusetts wafted into Connecticut.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said on Tuesday morning that smoke from the fire in Great Barrington traveled south into the state.

“Many residents from Southington to New Haven and beyond may be noticing a strong smell of smoke and haze [Tuesday] morning,” DEEP said.

DEEP said that Tuesday’s weather conditions caused smoke to spread widely and stay close to the ground. That’s what made it more noticeable.

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“Local officials are monitoring the situation,” it said. “If you’re sensitive to smoke, consider staying indoors and keeping windows closed until conditions improve.”

More on the forecast can be read in the technical discussion from Channel 3’s meteorologists here.



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Connecticut

Serious crash in downtown Stamford causes road closure

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Serious crash in downtown Stamford causes road closure


A serious car crash closed a busy road in downtown Stamford on Monday night.

The police department said Washington Boulevard is closed at the intersection with Bridge Street because of a serious crash.

Drivers are being asked to stay away from the area.

No additional information was immediately available.

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Immigration advocates vow to fight Trump deportation plans

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Immigration advocates vow to fight Trump deportation plans


Immigration advocates say they’ve already been preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to ramp up deportations once he returns to the White House.

“We anticipate that they’re going to be very quick, very rapid, very massive efforts to grab as many people as possible and deport them,” National Immigration Law Center President Kica Matos said during a rally outside the Capitol on Monday.

Matos said hers and other organizations began considering possible actions earlier this year in case Trump won.

Now, Trump is promising to deliver on his campaign pledge, taking to his Truth Social platform earlier in the morning to confirm he plans to declare a national emergency.

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He also intends to try and use the military to support his deportation effort, his post confirmed.

Advocates said they’re trying to assume undocumented immigrants in Connecticut that their organizations will offer support.

“If families have to be separated, it defeats the point completely because people are trying to get to the United States to be with their families,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, executive director of CT Students For a Dream.

Sookdeo said her family came from Guyana when she was a teenager and her grandmother, who was a U.S. citizen, was trying to help them also get permanent legal status.

Her grandmother died during the process, though, leaving Sookdeo’s family in limbo.

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“Immigration is pretty complicated,” she said.

Democrats, meanwhile, said they won’t support federal deportation efforts.

Attorney General William Tong (D) pointed to the state’s Trust Act, which bars local and state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

“Connecticut is going to care for our immigrant families and immigrant neighbors and friends,” Tong said.

There are some exceptions, including when an undocumented immigrant is convicted of a Class A or Class B felony. Tong wouldn’t say if that means Connecticut has to notify federal authorities of such a conviction.

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“I’m not going to issue a legal opinion on the fly from this podium,” Tong said.

Connecticut Republicans were critical of Democrats, though, saying their policies don’t reflect what voters want.

Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) said Connecticut spends too much money supporting undocumented immigrants, including with Medicaid, education and other assistance.

He also said voters are worried about public safety.

“It’s really out of step, I think, with what the residents and America wants, and that is, you know, safe borders, public safety and we have to get the cost of immigration under control,” Candelora said.

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