Guardrail penetrates all the way through small SUV in FL

[Brian556]

This, of course, is not supposed to happen. The end treatment piece is supposed to prevent this.
The style of end treaments in FL is different than what we use in TX. I'm wondering if their design isn't as good.
http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/-/11788162/19477800/-/14dy1mnz/-/index.html

[hbelkins]

This, of course, is not supposed to happen. The end treatment piece is supposed to prevent this.
The style of end treaments in FL is different than what we use in TX. I'm wondering if their design isn't as good.
http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/-/11788162/19477800/-/14dy1mnz/-/index.html

I sat through a session on guardrail end treatments at a safety conference a few years ago. Of particular interest was doing away with what they called "the Texas twist" because a car that runs up on it can be launched into the air. A local couple lost two of their sons in a wreck because the driver dozed off, ran up on a "Texas twist" and the car went airborne.

"Buried in the back slope" is the optimal end treatment, but if that can't be used, some sort of crash-cushion type is preferable. Lots of these old end treatments have been updated in Kentucky and the new end treatments fold up like an accordion when they're struck, and have to be replaced quite often.

[Brandon]

I'm not so sure it was the end treatment.  If you look, the rail went through the windshield of the guy's Scion xB.  It may be a case of the rail being set too high.

[empirestate]

I'm not so sure it was the end treatment.  If you look, the rail went through the windshield of the guy's Scion xB.  It may be a case of the rail being set too high.

I'm looking, but I don't see that. I see it going in under the hood and being deflected up into the passenger compartment, closer to the base of the windshield rather than through it.

[Brian556]

Quote from hbelkins:

I sat through a session on guardrail end treatments at a safety conference a few years ago. Of particular interest was doing away with what they called "the Texas twist" because a car that runs up on it can be launched into the air. A local couple lost two of their sons in a wreck because the driver dozed off, ran up on a "Texas twist" and the car went airborne.

Almost all of our "texas twist" ends have been replaced. And yes, the new end treatment is way more expensive, and damage prone.
The new type costs 2,000 each, but the twists were alot less.

The twists could often be hit without being damaged. The biggest drawback to the new type is when they have to be used on guardrails that start at intersections. When turning right, 18-Wheelers often catch the end of them, pulling them out into the road. When the twists were used in this situation, the ends of them could be run over without being damaged.