caught on camera

Police: Woman spotted speeding down the wrong way of Eastex Freeway

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Woman spotted driving wrong way on Eastex Fwy

This incident could have had a very bad ending, police said

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Exclusive video into the ABC13 newsroom shows a woman flying past cars while driving the wrong way on the Eastex Freeway.

Police said that driver got away, even while being tracked by officers, but amazingly she did not hit anyone.

RAW VIDEO: Woman drives against traffic on Eastex Fwy

Raw video shows a wrong-way driver speeding against the flow of traffic on Eastex Freeway.

Our Transtar cameras captured the driver going northbound on the southbound lanes of the Eastex Freeway just before 1 a.m.

On the video, you can see officers trying to flash their spotlights to get the attention of the woman in the white Toyota.

What's even scarier is police said she drove the wrong way for 10 miles before officers lost her.

When faced with such a split second decision, Bellaire's police chief Byron Holloway stressed you must immediately move to get you and your passengers out of harm's way.

Police say she exited on an entrance ramp near the freeway, and hasn't been seen since.

It is still unclear whether the woman was ignoring officers or just had no idea where she was. Investigators said her car has Louisiana license plates, and she may have been from out of town.

We see wrong way drivers fairly often in Houston, and police had some advice for protecting yourself should you find yourself near someone like this woman.

"At night around midnight, when the traffic frees up a little bit, when I'm on the freeway, I don't drive on the far left lane," Houston Police Lt. Larry Crowson said. "It seems that when the drunks do get on the wrong side of the road, they drive to the far right, so when you're coming over a hill or a bridge, a crest of a hill, you might hit them head on."