| Today's post is shared from Bloomberg,com/ A U.S. highway regulator opened an Internet portal this week allowing the public to report accidents tied to a Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN) guardrail system, which has been linked by lawsuits to at least eight deaths. The Federal Highway Administration’s move is the latest sign of intensifying government scrutiny of Trinity and its shock-absorbing guardrail end-terminal, the ET-Plus. Drivers and their families have claimed that the system can seize up on impact, spearing cars instead of giving way as intended. Earlier this month, the highway agency told U.S. lawmakers it would consider mandating additional crash tests on the system if it finds the current round, which started Dec. 10, isn’t sufficient. One of those lawmakers, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, said he plans to press Trinity in the new year for accountability over undocumented changes it may have made to the ET-Plus. Blumenthal, a Democrat, has joined the FHWA in asking whether Dallas-based Trinity quietly adjusted the dimensions of its system. Such a revision would represent the third version of the end-terminal since Trinity introduced it in 2000. The company admitted once already to changing the ET-Plus in 2005 and not telling the agency. It has denied allegations in lawsuits that the modified, second version poses an unnecessary danger to crashing... |
Read more about Guardrail Safety fro the Federal Highway Administration:
- FHWA Federal Register Notice requesting credible data on the ET-Plus Guardrail End Terminal, December 24, 2014
- 005 Crashworthiness Tests: ET-Plus Guardrail End Terminal System, December 16, 2014
- Guardrail 101 - Purpose, Function and Crashworthiness of Guardrails, December 10, 2014 (PDF, 487 KB)
- ET-Plus Retesting Information, December 10, 2014
- Memorandum - ACTION: E- Plus W-Beam Guardrail Terminal, October 10, 2014
Attachments:
- Letter from FHWA to Trinity Highway Products, LLC, October 21, 2014
- Trinity Highway Products Work Plan for Crash Test of the ET-Plus with 4-inch Guide Channels, October 31, 2014
- FHWA Response to the Work Plan, November 4, 2014
- Letter from Trinity Highway Products, LLC to FHWA, November 6, 2014
- Trinity Highway Products Work Plan for Crash Test of the ET-Plus with 4-inch Guide Channels, November 6, 2014
- Letter from FHWA to Trinity Highway Products, LLC, November 12, 2014
- Trinity ET-Plus Re-Testing/Guardrail End Terminal Safety - FAQ
- Crash Test Plan for the ET-Plus Guardrail End Terminal - FAQ
