Latest Blogs

A study funded by The Safety Institute and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission was published on September 11, 2014 by the University of Alabama School of Engineering.  After reviewing almost ten years of crashes in the states of Missouri and Ohio, researchers found that the ET-Plus guardrail is 1.36 times more likely to produce severe injury and 2.86 times more likely to produce death than the ET-2000, an older model manufactured by Trinity Industries, Dallas-based, and one of the largest manufacturers of guardrails in the United States. Guardrails manufactured by Trinity Industries are installed though-out the 50 states and many law suits have been filed according to Scripps reporters.

In May 2014 Safety Research & Strategies Inc., a product safety advocacy group, alleged "performance anomalies" in a law suit seeking records from the Federal Highway Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation.

ABC News 20/20 reported in September 2014 that, "Rather than ribboning out and absorbing the impact as designed, the guardrails "locked up" and speared straight through the cars."

The ET-Plus end terminal gained federal approval in 2000. In late October 2014 the verdict of a Texas jury found that Trinity Industries had defrauded the government by altering the guardrail end terminal design nearly a decade before and failing to disclose all of the changes to federal officials, which is a requirement. ABC News obtained an internal email where a Trinity official estimated that reducing a piece of metal in the guardrail end terminal from five inches to four inches would save the company $2 per guardrail or $50,000 per year.

In February 2014 Darius Williams of North Carolina ran his Nissan Sentra off the interstate.  A length of guardrail pierced his door. A picture snapped of the Sentra showed a 175-pound piece of steel lodged amid the wreckage with an identifying sticker of the maker: Trinity Highway Products LLC. 

Prior to this in February 2012, Luke Robinson hit the end of a guardrail while driving along the Virginia-Tennessee border.  The guardrail pierced the car through the rear passenger seat where it injured his three-year-old son.

ABC6 (Miami) Team 6 Investigators reported that there are more than 200 thousand altered ET-Plus guardrails across the United States. As of their updated report of November 26, 2014, Dick Kane, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, said that the state agency was currently taking an inventory of guardrail systems statewide as it is unclear just how many are actually in the state. Mr. Kane expected the department's audit to be completed before December 1, 2014.

"If you, a family member or someone you know, have been injured as a result of an accident with a guardrail, it is important that you contact an experienced Florida Defective Products Attorney," says Randall Spivey of Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.

Fort Myers Accident Attorney, Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by just one (1%) percent of Florida attorneys.  He has handled over 2,000 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida.  For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at 239.337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839,or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com for more information.  You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.