HANOVER, Md. — Maryland Department of Transportation contractors are replacing dozens of guardrails on the side of I-95 in Laurel, after a WUSA9 investigation identified several so-called “Frankensteined” guardrails statewide.
They are called “Frankensteined” because one brand of guardrail is attached to another brand of an end terminal. Instead of absorbing the impact of a crash, they can explosively impale people inside a car.
That's what happened to 18-year-old Isabella Alonzo. She died after her car struck a Frankensteined guardrail in Georgia.
"I drove by the wreck and I saw the guardrail and I saw her car and I didn’t recognize her car, it was so mangled," her father, Mark Alonzo, said. "The guardrail was sticking 10 feet up in the air."
Back in Maryland, no deaths have been attributed to Frankensteined guardrails. But Maryland just completed a statewide search for any of these rails.
"Our number is 84, and we've replaced a portion of those to date," said Teri Soos, deputy administrator of Maryland’s Highway Administration. "But we are training our crews to identify these systems. If there are any other locations that we may have missed or if new systems are put in place. We are working to train our crews, which includes our guard rail contractors when they're installing them, as well as our state highway inspection staff."
When asked how Frankensteined or "non-conforming" guardrails are installed, Soos replied, "Years ago when these systems were installed, crews didn't necessarily understand the importance of that system all working together."
Steve Eimers lost his daughter in a crash after she struck a guardrail. Since then he's traveled the country advocating for guardrail safety.
"My goal is to rob America’s streets of any future victims," Eimers said. "It’s so that if you and I ever have to talk in a different capacity where you have lost someone, I can tell you I’ve done everything I could to prevent what happened."
Eimer drove with WUSA9 around the D.C. metro area in the summer of 2022 to identify Frankensteined guardrails.
"The leadership that we see coming out of Maryland and Virginia on this issue is encouraging and I hope to see it’s going to be replicated in states across the nation," Eimers said.
Soos added that Eimers has been a "great partner" to Maryland’s Highway Administration working as a safety advocate to identify problem locations.