Two more wrong-way driver incidents include one on Rt. 100 in Waterbury-Stowe

May 20, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti

Vermont State Police responded to a wrong-way driver report along Vermont Route 100 in Stowe and Waterbury on Wednesday afternoon, eventually catching up with the vehicle when it crashed at the Berlin exit of Interstate 89. 

Trooper Mae Murdock reported that state police received calls around 2 p.m. that a white Ford 150 pickup truck was headed southbound in the northbound lane near Reservoir Road in Waterbury Center. They had already been alerted to a similar incident on Rt. 100 in Stowe involving a vehicle with the same description, Murdock said.   

As the incident unfolded, Murdock said reports came in that the pickup had hit traffic cones in the construction zone on Interstate 89 southbound from Waterbury. The vehicle eventually went off the road on the exit ramp at Exit 7 of I-89 in Berlin, according to Murdock’s account.  

The driver, Robert Gauvin, 44, of Barre City, was cited for negligent operation and given a July 16 court date in Washington County Superior Court to answer to the charge, police said. 

No injuries were reported in this case.             

This was the third wrong-way driver incident in the region in just four days, based on Vermont State Police accounts. 

A four-vehicle crash happened on Interstate 89 southbound on Sunday that was caused by a wrong-way driver. In that case, the driver suffered minor injuries; the other drivers and their passengers were unhurt. That driver, 79-year-old Judith Woodbeck, of Williamstown, will face a charge of gross negligent operation, also on July 16 in Washington Superior Court, according to police. 

The third wrong-way highway incident took place shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday on Interstate 89 between Exit 12 in Williston and Exit 16 in Colchester. State police from the Williston barracks were assisted by police from Williston and Colchester in locating a vehicle reported traveling northbound in the southbound lane.  

Police identified the driver as Joseph E. Ryan, 65, of Burlington, who was driving a 2015 Ram 1500 pickup. Police eventually caught up with Ryan when his truck struck a guardrail at the Colchester exit and came to a stop, police said.

Ryan was cited for gross negligent operation and was released with instructions to appear in Chittenden County Superior Court on June 23, according to the police report.