‘Drivers Going the Wrong Way: 4 Alarming Incidents on JWP This Week’

Maricopa, Arizona, has reported a troubling increase in incidents of wrong-way driving on John Wayne Parkway. Over a span of just four days, there have been four confirmed cases, raising alarms among local residents.

On April 22, Kaysen Klein, a 25-year-old Maricopa resident, encountered a vehicle traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of State Route 347 near Papago Road. The incident occurred at 1 a.m., leaving Klein startled as only headlights were visible in the dark. “I laid on my horn the entire approach. There was no change in speed. They just kept driving like normal,” Klein later recounted on Facebook. She urged others to report such drivers for better identification.

Klein also suggested the installation of additional streetlights for safety. “If I didn’t live there, I would probably almost turn into oncoming traffic, too,” she added. This sentiment reflects broader concerns about road safety in Maricopa.

In another instance, resident Bobbie Johnson reported a similarly alarming sighting on April 24. He witnessed a driver in the southbound lanes between Clayton Road and Lewis Johnson Drive around 12:30 p.m. “They were absolutely clueless! I flashed my lights and laid on the horn,” Johnson stated, emphasizing the potential dangers of such behavior.

Moreover, Alain Daniel, a resident of Alterra, shared dashcam footage that captured a pickup truck stopped in the northbound lanes at John Wayne Parkway and Honeycutt Roads on April 25. In a separate clip, a different driver was filmed going south in the northbound lanes, merging into crossing traffic onto Edison Road. This careless driving was noted by onlooker Russel Nolasco, who humorously remarked, “At least he uses the turn signal,” while commenting on a pedestrian seemingly unfazed by the chaos.

In light of these incidents, the Maricopa Police Department is advising drivers to “move quickly and safely away from the path of the wrong way driver” and to call 911 when they are safely off the road. A department spokesperson stressed the importance of community vigilance, stating, “If we get information quickly and while it’s happening, the higher likelihood we can locate the driver and prevent anyone from getting hurt.”