Blumenthal Statement on FHWA Report on ET-Plus Guardrail Safety

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, issued the following statement on the new report released by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) stating that there is not sufficient evidence to determine ET-Plus guardrail end terminals are unsafe:

“More than three and a half years since states first raised concerns about ET-Plus guardrails and nearly one year since a jury reached a bombshell half-billion-dollar verdict against the ET-Plus’s manufacturer for fraud, FHWA still inexplicably denies that adequate evidence exists to remove these potentially-dangerous devices from our roads. Despite the mounting, irrefutable evidence, FHWA continues to look the other way, an approach that endangers our roads and imperils our drivers. FHWA’s continuing safety failure is a reason why some states are starting to re-test ET-Plus devices on their own – a troubling vote of no confidence in this agency.”

Blumenthal has repeatedly called out the FHWA for allowing flawed and inadequate testing methods and supporting sham safety tests conducted by guardrail manufacturers. Earlier this year, Blumenthal led a Senate effort urging the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an independent investigation into the FHWA’s continued lax oversight.

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