SAN ANTONIO – More than a dozen states including Texas have put a moratorium on the installation of the Trinity ET Plus Guardrail system.
The performance of the guardrail head has been questioned in the last several months due to complaints and observations by industry insider and whistle-blower Joshua Harman.
Harman has spent the last three years studying accident sites and has pictures of head-on collisions with the guardrail in question where it has impaled drivers.
At the request of the Federal Highway Administration, testing was done Wednesday at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
The test pick-up truck was sent into the guardrail at 62 miles per hour at a 15-degree angle.
The FHWA reports the test was unremarkable, but are not prepared to declare a pass or fail until all the tests are complete and all the data is compiled.
Observations made by one of only two reporters allowed to watch the testing were similar.
The guardrail gated -- or buckled -- back and out of the way, as it was designed to work.
The testing site was a high-security, tightly controlled environment and there were no cameras allowed to record the crash test.
FHWA would not comment on why the operation was so tightly controlled.
Thursday will be the second of eight tests.
The pick up truck will drive at the same speed but will go head-on into the guardrail.