Staff Writer
Guardrail
failure in North Carolina has come under scrutiny due to the severe injuries
that have occurred associated with Trinity highway’s ET Plus guardrail. Trinity
Highway Products, one of the most popular guardrail makers in America, has
faced many lawsuits against their product in recent years. Prior to 2005,
Trinity designed five inch rails to prevent highway crashes, but a cost cutting
design change has led to many questions and complaints. The guardrail end
terminals were reduced to four inches, a number that isn’t supposed to change
the reaction of the safety mechanism. The rail heads were changed without notifying
or submitting the new design for approval to the Federal Highway Regulators;
they were not aware of the change until 2012. To this day the Federal Highway Administration still hasn’t
approved the new design.
When
working properly, a guardrail will slow an incoming car down by pushing its
rail head in a backwards accordion-like motion. Upon impact, the head will
slide on its axis, slowing down the car while simultaneously disconnecting the
side of the guardrail and flinging it safely away from the car and its
passengers. Instead, lawsuits allege that the revised four inch Trinity ET Plus
rail is piercing the car and in some cases the people inside, instead of
deflecting the rail away from the vehicle.
Because
of the repeated incidents, the majority of the United States has discontinued
installing these guardrails. At least one state has begun to remove them
from their roads. North Carolina is among the few that still allow them within
their border. In January of last year, North Carolina resident Jay Traylor was
in a car accident involving the Trinity ET plus guardrail. Traylor’s SUV was
pierced by the guardrail, the thing that was meant to protect him. The accident
left him a double amputee and his car totaled. Many cases like Traylor’s have
occurred all over the country, resulting in injuries and even death.
Many
lawsuits involving the Trinity ET plus guardrail are still pending.
Hopefully, these will lead to safer roads.
