Safety Of Guardrails Lining Hundreds Of Miles Of Pa. Roads Called Into Question
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Thousands of potentially dangerous guardrails line the roads of Pennsylvania. Some say a particular part of the guardrail could have a fatal flaw.
A Trinity Highway Products ET-Plus guardrail end treatment was recently installed on Pierce Mill Road.
"We are going to suspend installation of the ET-Plus end treatments," said PennDOT District 11 Executive Dan Cessna.
Cessna says that's because their safety has been questioned.
If a guardrail spears a car, Cessna says "it would be like a knife going through your car."
A federal judge in Texas ruled in a lawsuit that Trinity redesigned the ET-Plus nine years ago without testing the redesign or notifying the feds.
A total of 9,500 of those redesigned ends are in use in Pennsylvania.
In the local area, Cessna says, "We have 2,500 miles of highway, and going down any 10-mile stretch, there could be five of these. They're all over the place."
Nationwide, 14 lawsuits are pending involving deaths and injuries where the end treatments reportedly failed and the guardrail went through the vehicle. Trinity maintains they are safe.
And Cessna adds, "We've never had any, any instance of them failing improperly in a crash, and many have been crashed."
When a vehicle hits the end, it pushes the whole apparatus down the guardrail. The guardrail itself, instead of going into the vehicle, and the passengers is forced into the end, it curves it and actually shoots it out the side, protecting the passengers in the car.
One ET-Plus did exactly what it was supposed to do when it was hit recently on I-79 near Crafton.
For now, PennDOT has not ordered those already installed removed. It's waiting on new tests just ordered by the feds.
"Before we go spend tremendous amounts of taxpayer dollars replacing something that might ultimately be found to be safe," Cessna said.
In the meantime, damaged ends will be repaired if possible or replaced by another brand.
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