The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:50 PM
Gov. Haslam Signs Law Recommending All X-Lite Terminal Guardrails Be Recalled On State Roads
The guardrail terminals were blamed for deaths across the nation, including that of 17-year-old Hannah Eimers, who died in a late 2016 crash.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation acknowledged the guardrails were unsafe and stopped installing them in the state of Tennessee.
Since then, parents from around the nation who lost their children in crashes similar to Eimer's joined in the fight to remove the X-Lite terminals from roadways.
Stephen Eimers, Hannah's father, has taken his fight to a national level, attempting to contact President Trump on a visit to Tennessee and paying for a billboard outside Congresswoman Diane Black's Cookville office that read, "Rep. Black, please ask Trump about the X-Lite & FHWA."
On May 4, Lindsay transportation Solutions released the following statement in response to the resolution's passage: "It is concerning that Tennessee legislators have used their position to spread fear about a road safety product that has reduced the number and severity of injuries sustained in automobile accidents. Further, it is unacceptable that they have acted without consulting publicly available performance data of the X-LITE, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), or even road safety experts. Lindsay Transportation Solutions would have welcomed the opportunity to share the facts with the Tennessee General Assembly, but we were never invited or contacted."
Click here to find more information about the joint resolution signed by Governor Haslam.