Highway Guard Rails Dangerous When Struck

ABC News 20/20 broadcast a segment about this highway danger on Friday September 19, 2014.

See it at this link

http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2014-09/18-2020-919-road-to-ruin

[From article]

Drivers in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and across the United States are alleging that the makers of guardrail terminals cut costs and inadvertently turned the safety devices into fatal implements in crashes.
Victims of crashes are filing a lawsuit against Trinity Industries as the company faces increased scrutiny from researchers and regulators over the safety of their guardrail posts, meant to reduce the force of impact in a crash.
One of those victims is Jay Traylor, a 36-year-old who crashed into a Trinity guardrail terminal in North Carolina after falling sleep behind the wheel.

[. . .]

But in 2005, Dallas-based Trinity Industries, which manufactures the terminals, made a small design change that reduced the size of a key piece from five inches to four inches.
Trinity never disclosed the change to regulators at the Federal Highway Administration, and the agency continued to allow Trinity-manufactured terminals along United States highways.
In an internal email from 2004, a Trinity executive writes that decreasing the size of the part one inch would save $2 per terminal, adding up to $50,000 in savings a year.
'If TTI [Texas A&M Transportation Institute] agrees, we could make this change with no announcement,' the email continues.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2763679/A-spear-came-car-Drivers-maimed-crashes-allege-guardrail-deadly-weapons-manufacturer-cut-costs.html

'A spear came through my car': Crash victims allege that highway guardrails become deadly weapons because the manufacturer cut costs
Jay Traylor, 36, is party to a lawsuit against Trinity Industries alleging that a failing guardrail impaled him and severed his legs
Trinity Industries, a Dallas-based manufacturer, changed the terminal design used in thousands of terminals
The company never disclosed the change to the Federal Highway Authority
Joshua Harman also filed a suit, now set to be retried, saying that the company knew design changes made the terminal heads less safe
A study released by University of Alabama Birmingham came to the same conclusion
The Federal Highway Authority is now conducting a nationwide review
By PETE D'AMATO FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 15:21 EST, 20 September 2014 | UPDATED: 10:58 EST, 21 September 2014

Re-paving The Cambridge Street Tunnel

These images from June 27, 2014, show re-paving of the roadway of the tunnel from Cambridge Street and Broadway to Mass Avenue. It was done last summer, 2013, but the bonding agent was reportedly flawed. The cracks showed shortly after it was done. You can see how much of the work needs to be redone. It is reported that it will not cost the city taxpayers for the work.

Cambridge Public Library, $91 million and Flawed

The new Cambridge MA Public Library which ballooned from $31 million to the final cost of $91 million already shows flaws. At one meeting during public design discussions I said it looks like this building was designed by architects for architects. That may be an accurate observation if I say so myself. These images show repairmen working to fix a faulty front door on December 17, 2010 14 months after the grand opening on October 29, 2009. Is there any connection between this fault and the closed Central Square branch? Is this vandalism by disgruntled employees who don't want to work at the main library? Or is it angry main branch employees rebelling at having to work with Central Square employees? The Teamsters Union, the City Manager's office and the Library Director had no comment.