ROADSKY TRAFFIC SAFETY CORPORATION

An initiative to put cable guardrails by pile driver along more area highways appears to be reducing the number of serious crashes, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Cheaper than steel guardrails and concrete barriers, cable guardrails help prevent vehicles from crossing the median and entering oncoming traffic.

But they also mean more minor crashes result in damage to vehicles and the guardrails themselves.

"We have seen an increase in property-only damage crashes," meaning crashes resulting in no personal injuries or deaths, MDOT spokesman Nick Schirripa said.

MDOT is spending $40 million in federal highway safety money over three years on a 280-mile cable guardrail program.

Cable guardrails were installed by pile driver this year along Interstate 94 in Calhoun County. Schirripa said his best estimate was that so far about six crashes had involved vehicles hitting the cable guardrails.

More time is needed to determine exactly how effective the guardrails are working locally, he said, but they've made a difference in other areas.

During a span of five years ending in 2006, 33 crashes in Berrien and Van Buren counties where a vehicle crossed the median resulted in 16 injuries and 50 serious injuries, Schirripa said.

Since cable guardrails were installed by pile driver, there have been no fatal cross-median accidents, he said. That's true for areas across the state with cable guardrails. MDOT expects cable guardrails to save 13 lives and prevent 51 serious injuries every year.

Engineering and drainage concerns mean the cable guardrails can't go in the center of a grassy highway median, Schirripa said. Instead, they're at least 12 0r 14 feet from the shoulder line.

"We're leaving enough room for vehicles to pull over in an emergency is they need to," he said.

A crash can mean a few hundred dollars worth of repairs to a stretch of cable guardrails, Schirripa said.
The repair costs are usually paid by insurance companies. Uninsured drivers are billed, and in rare cases MDOT may have to use taxpayer money to cover the cost, Schirripa said

He said he wasn't aware of any drivers or insurance companies who had disputed the charges. And he noted that insurance companies typically favor cable guardrails since they keep the overall costs of accidents low.