Preliminary test crashes indicate the nation’s guardrail system can’t handle heavy electric vehicles

By MARGERY A. BECK
Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Preliminary tests by a University of Nebraska road safety research facility and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers point to concerns that the nation’s roadside guardrails are no match for new heavy electric vehicles. At a news conference Wednesday, a university official said a first-of-its-kind test crash of a nearly 4-ton EV pickup truck last fall showed the guardrail did almost nothing to slow the truck traveling at 60 mph. Cody Stolle with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility says more extensive testing is planned. But he says tens of thousands of miles of guardrails along roads in the nation will likely need to be adapted as more electric vehicles populate the roads.