Guardrails in NC could kill you, safety advocate says

Most of us don't think twice about the guardrails on the highway. We assume they would help protect us, and we hope we won't need them.

For Steve Eimers, guardrails are on his mind every day, and have been since Nov. 1, 2016.

"I am a father who lost his 17-year-old daughter and began asking questions," he told WRAL Investigates.

Eimers says Hannah was killed on the way to school in Tennessee when a guardrail speared her car. He says the guardrail was comprised of mismatched parts, or, was "Frankensteined," as he calls it.

It launched his life's work of preventing similar tragedies.

"My goal is to find damaged, Frankensteined, improperly installed, functionally deficient guardrails and rid America’s streets of future guardrail victims," he said.

Eimers said he read the manuals on guardrail installation, educating himself on the ins and outs of how they work. Now, he travels the country looking for problem spots, and informing state agencies about them, hoping to get them corrected.

"I'm down 40 pounds because I've walked almost 1,000 miles of guardrails," he said.

Traveling the roads of Raleigh and Eastern North Carolina virtually, using Google Maps, Eimers said he spotted more than two dozen issues in a matter of hours.

"This is a ticking time bomb," he said. "What you have is an incompatibility with the parts and what it does is it creates a monster capable of killing. And I've seen it kill."

Eimers claimed the North Carolina Department of Transportation has not been receptive to fixing the issues.

"I have had more negative experiences with the NCDOT than virtually any department in the nation," he said. "To be candid."

NCDOT State Traffic Engineer Brian Mayhew told WRAL Investigates that when the agency learns of problems - whether from Eimers or someone else - they fix them.

Further, he said the NCDOT does not believe there is a prevalent guardrail issue in the state.

"We don't have any information and we do not believe that it's a widespread issue or widespread concern," Mayhew said.

For that reason, Mayhew said it would not be a good use of state resources to devote the time to checking every one of them.

NCDOT oversees more than 80,000 miles of roads.

"If we thought we had a widespread issue, then we would take a different course of action," he said.

A spokesperson for the NCDOT told WRAL Investigates it is a priority to fix guardrails that are damaged in a timely fashion.

"Each of the 14 Highway Divisions across the state has a routine inspection schedule in order to locate and schedule the repair of damaged guardrail," spokesperson Aaron Moody wrote in an email. "Also, when funds allow, projects are developed to upgrade guardrail to current national standards with interstate routes being the highest priority.

“We appreciate you sharing the 28 sites located in the eastern part of the state. The locations you shared are in several of our Highway Divisions. Division staff will investigate these sites to determine if the guardrail has been damaged. If so, they will be repaired with help from our contracting partners."