GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Family of Willow Yon, a 21-year-old woman killed by a wrong-way driver, are weighing in on the new technology attempting to deter similar crashes.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced they plan to install a detection system to help stop wrong-way drivers on US-131 in Grand Rapids.
The system comes after multiple wrong-way crashes on US-131 in Grand Rapids in the past five years, including the 2022 crash that killed Yon and a 2019 crash that left both drivers dead.
The technology will be placed on wrong-way signs on several ramps between Ann Street and 28th Street. When a car is detected going the wrong way, lights on the sign will start flashing, a camera will begin recording and police will be notified.
This system has already been implemented on several ramps along US-131.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said that while the system may not stop all wrong-way drivers, it will help deter them.
"This is definitely a step in the right direction," said Winstrom. "It's progress when an issue is so important like this, with tragic consequences for people driving the wrong way on a highway...to make that progress is so important. It's something that we should be doing and I'm excited that we're part of it."
Wrong-way crashes on divided highways were up 34% between 2015 and 2018, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The top contributing factors include alcohol or drugs, older age and driving without a passenger.
"It's always astonishing and horrific when these types of crashes happen, but we're going to continue our proactive efforts to reduce the risk," said MDOT Grand Region Engineer Erick Kind. "We identified this six-mile section of US-131 as the highest concentration of traffic, bars, nightlife and other entertainment areas."
Paul Yon, Willow's father, says it's too little, too late for his family.
"I wish it had come earlier, but it didn't," he said. "For many more, maybe it'll make the difference to save their lives."
Willow, who was a student at Kendall College, was walking by US-131 North near downtown Grand Rapids when she was hit and killed in March 2022.
Ashley Guadalupe Rodriguez-Hernandez, the driver of the car that hit Willow, was recently sentenced to over three years in prison. Her blood alcohol content was .114%. The legal limit is .08%.
"This is painful to live through. Nobody should have to do it," said Yon, through tears. "But people keep drinking, keep driving, keep doing other drugs... And it's affecting the lives of many people that have the best intentions."
While the new technology is a welcome advancement for Yon and his family, he says the biggest change needs to be on the individual level. That, he believes, would've saved his daughter.
"She was a young, vibrant woman. And she had her whole life ahead of her," said Yon. "And then it was swept away in an instant. It really comes from every individual on the road, you've got to be careful what you're doing."
"That's the only thing that's really going to solve it all."
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