Guardrails are usually designed to absorb impacts, but one in the US state of California did the opposite and speared through a car that had lost control during a snow storm.
Quinton Brock was lucky to survive the crash in her Subaru Outback, escaping with only moderate internal injuries including broken ribs.
The 19-year-old was driving towards through Plumas County on Highway 70 in northern California during a snow storm when she lost control of her Subaru Outback.
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She claims she was only travelling around 40mph (64km/h) when she lost control and collided with the guard rail.
“I had to slide out under it and make sure my legs still worked,” she told CBS13, holding back tears.
“The inside panel kind of detached and pushed itself along with the guardrail as it pushed through the car, and moved my body forward as it went behind me.
Photo credit: California Highway Patrol
“Statistically speaking, that shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t be here talking to you.”
According to the US Department of Transportation, guardrails are designed to either deflect a vehicle back to the roadway, slow the vehicle down to a complete stop, or at least slow it as it passes the guardrail.
The end terminal of a guardrail is commonly given an energy-absorbing treatment “designed to absorb the energy of an impact by having the impact head slide down the length of the guardrail”.
“When hit head-on, the impact head slides down the guardrail flattening, or extruding, the guardrail and redirecting
the guardrail away from the vehicle until the vehicle’s impact energy is dissipated and the vehicle has decelerated to a stop,” the DOT says on its website.
“When hit at an angle, the impact head may partially extrude the guardrail and then “gate” out of the way allowing the vehicle to pass behind the guardrail. This means the terminal and guardrail is pushed through, as if opening a gate.”
It appears this guardrail didn’t meet these standards.
This safety issue has led activists like Steve Eimers, who calls himself the Guardrail Guy, to lobby governments in the US to replace defective guardrails. Mr Eimers lost his 17-year-old daughter in a car crash after a guardrail speared into the cabin of her car, killing her instantly.
