Cops: Woman drove wrong way on Sunrise for 6 miles

A young woman drove a vehicle in the wrong direction on Sunrise Highway for about 6 miles during rush hour Wednesday before she was stopped by a deputy sheriff's vehicle and safely escorted off the roadway, police said.

"She was traveling eastbound in the westbound lane," said Michael Sharkey, the Suffolk sheriff's chief of staff. "Fortunately, at that time of day the heaviest traffic is eastbound."

Sharkey said the woman, about 21 years old, got on to the westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway near Route 109 around 5 p.m. and continued driving eastbound as far as Fifth Avenue.

Near Fifth Avenue, she was stopped by a sheriff's deputy who was responding to 911 calls about her wrong-way vehicle, police said.

"There were no accidents, no injuries, no alcohol, no drugs involved," Sharkey said, "She had just gotten on in the wrong direction, got confused and upset, and didn't know what to do." Possibly inexperience as a motorist caused her to make the wrong decision and keep going, he said.

"If someone finds themselves accidentally in that situation, the prudent move is to safely move their vehicle as far to the side of the road as they can and call 911," Sharkey said. "Thank God, this turned out the way it did."

No summons were issued, Sharkey said.