The Trinity ET-Plus guardrail system lines highways nationwide, but in this state, the Texas Department of Transportation doesn't know how many are out there or where they are located.
This week Trinity Highway Products suspended it's shipment of the ET-Plus system.
The decision came after a federal court ruling in which Trinity Industries was found guilty of making a false or fraudulent claim concerning the eligibility of the ET-Plus.
In response to recent events, TXDOT will begin tracking any and all accidents involving guardrails statewide.
The lawsuit was filed by industry competitor and whistle blower, Joshua Harman.
For the last decade he's been in the business of manufacturing and installing guardrails nationwide.
According to Harman, most guardrail systems are designed to pigtail on impact.
"The end terminal cap, the extruder head, that is designed to absorb the errant vehicles energy, compensate it, slow the vehicle to a safe stop and you literally can get out," Harman said.
In 2011, Harman began noticing dozens of Trinity ET-Plus guardrail heads systematically failing.
"I would see the head locked up and a completely uncontrolled situation where the guardrail buckles and sometimes impaling the vehicles. It didn't make a lot of sense to me why these things were happening," Harman said
Harman claims an earlier version of the Trinity ET-Plus rail head worked flawlessly, but that the design had been modified at some point and the government was not notified.
In light of the recent verdict, the Federal Highway Administration has concluded that Trinity must perform additional crash testing of the ET-Plus.
We asked Trinity about the lawsuit and the safety of their guardrails, but have yet to get a response.