JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi has joined five other states in banning future use of highway guardrail’s made by a company found liable this week in a $525 million fraud lawsuit in Texas.
Trinity Industries’ ET Plus guardrail systems were found to be defective and dangerous. In some crashes, the guardrail has even sliced through vehicles. The company changed the design in 2005 and did not notify the Federal Highway Administration.
It is not clear how many ET-Plus systems are in place on Mississippi roadways, but a Mississippi Department of Transportation spokesperson said none of the faulty ones have been placed on MDOT’s right of ways. He said that the agency has no plans of removing the guardrails already in the ground and will not install any new ones until Federal Highway Administration safety tests are completed.
Missouri, Massachusetts, Virginia, Nevada and Oregon have also banned the further use of the ET-Plus system over safety concerns.
