Letter to Greg Nadeau, Acting Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration - Reviewing Where Faulty Guardrail Components Are Located in New York State
Letter
Dear Acting Administrator Nadeau:
I commend FHWA for the recent decision to require Trinity Highway Products, LLC to perform additional crash testing of the ET-Plus guardrail end terminal. I urge you to work with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to determine where the ET-Plus guardrail end terminals have been installed throughout the state, so that they may be quickly removed if additional safety concerns are discovered.
As you know, guardrail end terminals are designed to give way when hit head-on, absorbing energy and slowing the vehicle. In 2005, Trinity Industries, the manufacturer of the ET-Plus guardrail end terminal, made a change to the dimensions of their product without notifying the FHWA. Lawsuits allege that this one-inch change was made to save money, and makes the new ET-Plus prone to malfunction. The smaller end terminal can jam instead of sliding along the guardrail, turning the guardrail into a dangerous spear that can pierce through the vehicle, killing or injuring those inside. A recent study of crashes in two states conducted by the University of Alabama-Birmingham found that a crash involving the ET-Plus was more likely to end in both serious injuries and fatalities than one involving an older design.
Last week, a Texas jury found that Trinity had committed fraud against the U.S. government by failing to disclose the modifications to the ET-Plus to the FHWA. I commend the steps that FHWA has taken in requiring additional crash testing of the ET-Plus guardrail end terminal. However, with several tragic deaths and horrific injuries linked to accidents involving these devices, more needs to be done. I urge you to work with NYSDOT to conduct a review of the ET-Plus end terminals located throughout New York State. There are an estimated 500,000 of these guardrail end terminals installed throughout the United States, and likely thousands in New York; we need to identify their whereabouts and keep New York drivers safe.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to working with you to ensure that all guardrail end terminals installed across the country meet strict, effective safety standards.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
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