Trinity to resume shipping guardrails amid safety concerns

Trinity Industries Inc stated that it would resume selling guardrail products, called ET-Plus Systems, despite the study over the products safety. The company has been accused of making guardrails that can malfunction and impale drivers.

Trinity spokesman Jeff Eller told The New York Times that the company is currently receiving inquiries from customers for potential purchases of ET-Plus Systems, and will resume the shipment of the products as orders are received and accepted.

But Eller would not disclose which customers had inquired about buying the ET-Plus Systems.

Trinity has stopped shipping its guardrail systems for almost one year after it failed to disclose potentially hazardous changes it made on its system.

Last year, the Virginia's attorney general office accused Trinity Industries after revealed the company modified the design of one of their guardrails without notifying the federal government.

Trinity modified ET-Plus design in 2005 by narrowing the channel behind the head to four inches from five. The modification possibly causing the system to jam. When that happens, the rail may cut through the vehicle itself, potentially injuring occupants.

Just after the accusation, more than 30 states also suspended to purchase Trinity's ET-Plus.

Earlier this year, the Federal Highway Administration ordered eight crash tests on the ET-Plus. The result showed that the guardrails are safe for the road, including a final test in which the device severely dented the driver-side door of the test car.

However, the officials in Virginia, which has banned the purchase of ET-Plus and has joined the attorney's lawsuit against the company, assumed that those tests were not adequate.

Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) conducted a number of its own tests last month to determine if the product is safe for Virginia roads. The tests including a low-angle test that is generally not required for such products.

The Virginia general attorney office claimed the products failed the tests. As reported on ABC News, the attorney general's office stated that the new modified ET-Plus had failed miserably on the tests.

The office described a pickup truck in one test went airborne after hitting the extruder head then flipped and landed on the guardrail.

Trinity accuses the department of improperly testing the product. For the past two weeks, the company launched a campaign accusing VDOT of improperly installing its product on Virginia roads.

Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration told Globalnews that ET-Plus is not the only guardrails system that shows vulnerabilities on US roads. The report said there needed to be more testing and better installation done to ensure public safety.