Trinity Highway Products, the largest guardrail manufacturer in the country, failed to meet the deadline imposed on them by the Federal Highway and Safety Administration to review the modified ET –Plus end Terminal. Simultaneously, a jury earlier this week fines the guardrail company $525 million for defrauding the federal government after it failed to disclose design changes to them.
The guardrails have been identified as having a design flaw by another study conducted by the Safety Standards Institute. This causes them not to absorb the full impact of the vehicle and slowing it down, when a struck. Instead the guardrail, currently acts like a spear cutting through the vehicle. This was presented in court and along with video footage by the plaintiff.
VDOT announced on Monday they are taking measures to remove guardrails installed across the state effective immediately. Virginia had already stopped shipments of the product, prior to the court ruling on October 27, 2014. However, there is one small caveat Virginia installed over 11,000 guardrails since 2006 and not sure, how many were manufactured by Trinity. The process in removing the guardrails will not be a quick process for VDOT. The spokes team for VDOT shared if the data is approved by FHSA then they will not move forward with the removal process.
Stay tuned as the testing continues on the safety of our guardrails here in VA…..
If you believe you've been injured or had a car accident because of a defective or recalled product, please contact our Virginia attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman. We offer free case reviews and proudly serve clients in Norfolk, Newport News, and Roanoke, Virginia. Call us today at (855) 880-8163.