Guardrails that Kill?

Guardrails that aim to prevent accidents may in fact cause them.

The ET Plus guardrail system, manufactured by Trinity Industries, has been found to have an undisclosed “design change” that can cause it to impale cars upon impact due to concealed risks posed by the guardrail’s end terminals. ET Plus guardrail systems are implemented along highways in the U.S. and in a few provinces in Canada, such as Manitoba and Ontario.

North American transportation authorities are being pressured to conduct a more rigorous review of the guardrail system.

The first allegations of a possible product defect were made public in early 2012, when it was discovered that Trinity Industries had made an undisclosed design change to the ET Plus. As a result of this discovery, a few provinces in Canada and approximately 40 states in the U.S. suspended installations of the device. The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also decided to gather information on how the ET Plus was performing on the roads and conduct a series of crash tests.

We’ve spoken previously about the duty of manufacturers to pull a product and issue a recall if their product has a defect. In this case, however, because the product passed eight FHWA requested tests, a recall would not be necessary, even though the guardrails are potentially dangerous.

Jeff Eller, spokesperson for Trinity Industries, is quoted as saying that the modified and original ET Plus “perform as designed. People get hurt every day. People get hurt on our guardrails. They get hurt on our competitors’ guardrails. It does not mean the product’s defective.”

Officials at the Ministry of Transportation researched previous fatal accidents involving guardrails for the years 2005 through 2012. They later concluded, “During this eight year period there were no fatalities involving steel beam energy attenuating terminals including the ET-Plus system. As stated previously, MTO is not aware of any safety performance issues with the Trinity Highway Products ET-Plus system on provincial highways in Ontario”.

Many class-action lawsuits have been launched in the United States, but there have been none yet in Canada.

There still exists the possibility of litigation as far as the EP guardrails are concerned. If you are ever injured by a guardrail or in a motor vehicle accident in general, speak to an accident lawyer to understand the feasibility of litigation and get you the compensation you deserve for your injuries.