Dangerous guardrails: TDOT to remove potential hazards across state

JACKSON, Tenn. — Most drivers assume guardrails are there for our safety, but after a certain type was involved in at least four Tennessee deaths, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is spending close to a million dollars just to remove them.

Drivers pass by guard rails every day and may not even notice them, but lately a certain type is getting a lot of attention.

Shirley Stansell lives off of State Route 197, one of 16 locations in Madison County with X-LITE guardrail terminals. After just two years in use, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is removing all 1,800 across the state.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t like paying all those taxes when it’s not going for anything that is going to do us any good,” Stansell said.

The state now says the guardrails are a danger to drivers.

Guardrails were designed to take most of the impact from a crash by crushing backwards — but that’s only if it’s done correctly. TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges says when hit, some of the X-LITE terminals split into two pieces, separating horizontally.

“That second piece of guardrail was not being caught by that impact head, and it ran the risk of piercing the cabin of a vehicle,” Degges said.

Last Summer in East Tennessee, TDOT says the guardrails pierced through two vehicles, with deadly results.

“March of this year, we made the decision to pull all of the installed units that were on the transportation network,” Degges said.

The decision will cost the state almost a million dollars, but TDOT says even the replacements are a last resort.

“We do place it in locations that protect you from what could be more severe damage,” TDOT Operations Specialist Michael Welch said.

But their actual goal is that drivers never put them to the test.

Stansell agrees. “I just wish people would slow down. You just have one life to live,” she said.

TDOT did not say why the state chose the X-LITE guardrail but only that they were federally approved and allowed to be installed.

Officials estimate it could take up to a year before they are all removed.