Controversial guardrail performs correctly in federally mandated tests
Last edited Mon Mar 16, 2015, 09:16 AM - Edit history (1)
If this subject sounds familiar, maybe it's because of this:
Feds Open Website for Public Reporting of Guardrail Flaws
and this:
Federal jury sides with whistle-blower against Dallas-based Trinity Industries; damages over $800M
There was an article about this on ABC 2020 newsmagazine TV show Saturday night, March 14:
2020 3/14/15: Fatigued Truckers and the Deadly Consequences
They had another article earlier in March:
Senators Want Investigation Into Federal Agency Overseeing Guardrail Safety
and this in February (warning: autoplay video):
Canadian City Sues US Guardrail Maker For $500 Million
Controversial guardrail performs correctly in federally mandated tests
Transportation
By Ashley Halsey III March 13
@ashleyhalsey3rd
A controversial guardrail cap that was alleged to spear vehicles that struck it has performed correctly in the final tests sought by the Federal Highway Administration.
The announcement Friday by the Transportation Department may clear the way for states to abandon plans for replacing an estimated 200,000 ET-Plus guardrail caps made by Trinity Industries, the largest manufacturer of the item.
Trinity has been engaged in a bitter legal battle with competitors who contend that modifications to the original Trinity cap caused deadly malfunctions. .... One competitor, Virginia guardrail engineer Joshua Harman, brought a federal whistleblower suit contending that Trinity failed to notify the FHWA when it changed the width of a key piece of metal from five inches to four inches. He says that the modification resulted in deadly malfunctions.
....
As the legal imbroglio unfolded in a welter of suits and countersuits, the FHWA ordered testing of the ET-Plus attached to guardrails of two different heights, 27 3/4 inches and 31?inches. ... The FHWA said last month that the tests at the lower height found that the ET-Plus performed correctly. A report on the second round of tests, released by the FHWA on Friday, found that it functioned properly at the 31-inch height as well.
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I've driven that stretch of road. The pictures came from here: " target="_blank">Snopes: Standing Guardrail
I'll have to see who made that guardrail. The Montana DOT probably can come up with the answer.
The story is here too:
Shish-Ka-Burban: Guardrail Skewers SUV
And here: The endcap on a highway guard rail
which links to this:
The Suburban! - WOW!
Worse? Sure:
BMW Driver Somehow Survived This Guardrail Impaling Without A Scratch
