Are Cable Barriers Effective?

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A triple fatal cross-over crash in 2004 started a chain of events that led to cable barriers being installed on the medians of central Ohio roadways. Cable barriers are about four times cheaper than cement barriers. Officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation decided they were a better option for certain roadways across the state.

Cable barriers are supposed to protect you from oncoming traffic. But this past Wednesday, they didn’t stop an SUV from crossing a median and causing a head-on collision on I-70.

NBC 4’s Digging Deeper To Know Why Cable Barriers Didn’t Prevent The Crash.

A spokesperson for ODOT explains several posts holding the barrier up were knocked over prior to the spot where the SUV crossed the median. She explains the posts were installed properly and that crews would have been aware of them if they were knocked over before the accident. She adds it is too early in the investigation to speculate whether the SUV knocked them over.

Officials are looking into how factors like the deer running into freeway traffic causing the crash or the vehicle’s speed could have played into the fact that the SUV managed to get across the median.

The ODOT spokesperson stresses that cable barriers are very effective and the department would install more of them if it had the money.

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