KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is preparing to replace most of the roughly 1,700 guardrails tied to deaths both there and in other states.
The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2o13vYC) reported Thursday that at least seven people have died in six crashes in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia when their vehicles struck Lindsay X-LITE guardrail ends.
In Tennessee, the ends impaled three vehicles, killing four people, including a teenage girl who was mistakenly billed nearly $3,000 for the guardrail.
State transportation spokeswoman B.J. Doughty says in two of those crashes, the guardrails didn't function properly.
Officials are accepting bids for contractors to remove and replace the majority of X-LITE ends on roads where speed limits exceed 45 mph.
Doughty says the total cost could top $3.6 million. Work is slated to be completed by June 2018.