Women, 19 and 20, killed in head-on crash on I-440 in Raleigh

The crash occurred around 1:30 a.m. near Exit 13 for New Bern Avenue.

Officers with the Raleigh Police Department said a Honda Civic was traveling the wrong way on I-440 and crashed into a flatbed tow truck. The driver of the Civic, India Simone McBride, 19, and a passenger, Dearia Takayla Davis, 20, died in the crash.

The tow truck driver was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A large stretch of the road was shut down for more than four hours while crews worked to clear debris from the road.

No charges have been filed.

This case remains under investigation.

Wrong way crashes are happening more frequently in North Carolina in recent years. There were 46 in 2019 and that number jumped to 66 last year.

AAA is advocating for safer roadway systems. While the exact causes of these crashes haven't been released, officials with AAA say these crashes can and should be avoided.

"I know it begins with the motorist," said Tiffany Wright, AAA Carolinas Director of Public Affairs. "If we're not behind the wheel impaired or making sure that if we have medications, or if we're drowsy we are not getting behind the wheel."

In 2017, the state created a wrong way vehicle detection program along the triangle expressway.

It used both cameras mounted on toll gantries and chips built into the roads to catch someone driving the wrong way. It then lights up wrong way signage and alerts the highway patrol, hopefully before a crash.

"That's what we need," Wright said. "We need systems in place that are going to prevent, that are going to help reduce these crashes."