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The system was banned by Nevada in January, Massachusetts and
Missouri banned it in September, and Virginia this month
threatened to stop buying it over concerns that it can impale
drivers in the event of a crash.
The guardrail system consists of a flat piece of metal at the
front of the guardrail which is intended to protect vehicle
occupants in crashes.
On Monday, a federal jury in Marshall, Texas, found the company
liable for failing to tell a highway agency about changes it
made to the ET-Plus guardrail system.
The jurors penalized the company $175 million, which under the
federal False Claims Act would be tripled to $525 million.
Following this, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ruled
on Tuesday that new tests of the ET-Plus product for the ends of
guardrails would be needed to help the regulator evaluate how
well the system works.
Trinity said in a statement today that it will continue working
with FHWA and will stop shipment of the product until the
requested testing is completed.
Trinity did not respond to Reuters request to comment on the
outstanding ET-Plus systems it has in shipment.
Trinity is expected to submit a crash-testing plan to FHWA by
Oct. 31.
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bangalore; Editing by Alden
Bentley)
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