Gap in safety

On several levels that was an especially horrifying wreck Monday on Interstate 40 near the Wade Avenue split. A 54-year-old Cary man, George Smith, was killed during his morning commute by, it appears, a drunken driver in a stolen vehicle that crossed the median and slammed into Mr. Smith's car.

One moment you're driving to work on a quiet Monday morning. The next, a big SUV is barreling at you across a grassy median at a closing speed of perhaps 100 mph or more. Then, eternity.

The SUV driver, who has been identified as Michael Caldera De Latorre, 24, has been jailed on charges of DWI and felony death by motor vehicle. Authorities were trying to determine whether he is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, as at least one news report yesterday said that he was.

Beyond an obvious concern about the number of crashes involving alcohol and immigrants, there's another factor in Monday's tragedy: the lack of any barrier protecting against median crossovers on that stretch of I-40 around west Raleigh.

Make no mistake -- the Department of Transportation didn't cause this wreck. The SUV driver did, by his dangerous conduct.

But highway safety is a key part of the DOT's mission, and protective barriers -- a vital component for preventing some of the deadliest wrecks -- have been a sore point. In December a downed cable barrier on U.S. 64/264 in Wendell allowed a speeding SUV to cross the median and hit a passenger car, killing three family members. The cable had been ineffective for weeks. Following news stories and editorials focusing attention on the problem, the DOT pledged to do better, and in some places it has.

Now it's past time, unfortunately, to guard against crossovers along several miles of the interstate east of the Wade Avenue split. There, an unusually wide median is the only protection motorists have from traffic going in the opposite direction, often at speeds of 70 mph-plus.

A plan is in the works to widen that section of roadway from four to six lanes. No doubt a barrier will accompany the new lanes, but Monday's tragedy points out an obvious gap in safety that can't wait for the widening project. A relatively inexpensive cable barrier might have derailed the SUV and saved Mr. Smith, and putting one up is the least the DOT should do now.