Deadly Guardrails on U.S. Roadways

A guardrail buckles on impact with a car. The kinked edge of the buckled guardrail speared the driver’s door impaling the driver’s legs. This is a scenario that should not happen on America’s roadways with a safely designed guardrail. These injuries are preventable with a safe design of the guardrail safety system.

What is supposed to be a roadway safety device and help protect vehicles that for whatever reason may leave the roadway, instead, due to a defective design, fails to absorb crash forces, buckles, turning the guardrail into a spear that either pierces the vehicle or causes it to overturn.  The penalty for an inadvertent departure off the roadway or being forced off the roadway should not be serious injury or death from a guardrail.

Anytime a vehicle has left the roadway and impacted a guardrail the attorney evaluating the case should also look at whether or not the guardrail played a role in causing injury to the people inside the vehicle.