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Mar 10, 2024

On November 1, 2016, my daughter, Hannah Eimers was driving to school with a friend in Tennessee.

She never made it. At just 17, she was speared by a guardrail end component called "X-Lite," produced by the Lindsay Corporation. Hannah was eviscerated, but her friend walked away unscathed.

How can a roadside safety device be causing injuries similar to weapons of war?

Hannah did not have to die, but her story is one of many. Lauren Buettel was killed in Tennessee, Jennifer McCarthy lost her leg in Massachusetts, Michael Carter died in Maryland — all by X-Lites meant to protect them.

The answer to this question involves a failure of government oversight, a lack of political will, and a company willing to stop at nothing to cover up its fraud.

Let’s examine the facts.

A 2017 USA TODAY Network investigation noted Lindsay performed all crash testing of X-Lite at its own test lab. Despite X-Lite spearing the passenger compartment multiple times in this testing, Lindsay still sought approval from U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. Lindsay wanted X-Lite to replace another terminal with perfect performance that was “too costly."

Immediately state DOTs began to see X-Lite’s problems. Lindsay responded by making over 100 secret changes to X-Lite. They conducted more crash tests, which catastrophically failed and Lindsay concealed these results. Lindsay knew these spearings were going to happen but still installed X-Lites across 29 states.

By sealing records, Lindsay Corp. is hiding its fraud from state DOTs and allowing the X-Lite to continue killing. Over 200,000 pages of documents were produced by Lindsay in Hannah’s wrongful death case but every page was marked confidential. I can’t tell you what’s in there, but Missouri reviewed these documents after another fatal X-Lite spearing.

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Missouri’s review led them to file a lawsuit against Lindsay alleging X-Lite is “defective” and that it’s “unreasonably dangerous." Missouri declared X-Lite a “public nuisance” and accused Lindsay of fraud.

Missouri reports “The Defendants misrepresented the results of the NCHRP 350 crash testing for the purpose of making prospective purchasers believe that the X-Lite System functioned safely and as designed."

Yet this is just part of the story. In 2016, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified oversight deficiencies by the Federal Highway Administration involving crash testing labs. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. D-Connecticut, described the administration as “troubled” and stated: “Today’s report paints a picture of an agency adrift—failing to ensure these devices are enhancing safety, not undermining it.”

Making matters worse, the Federal Highway Administration has not rescinded X-Lite’s eligibility letter. This provides legitimacy that allows X-Lites to remain on our nation’s highways. The administration simply refuses to enforce its rules.

State after state has voiced concerns about X-Lite’s performance, constructability, undisclosed changes, quality, and Lindsay’s product support.

At least 18 states have removed their X-Lites from the roadside but Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and others have not.

Tens of thousands of X-Lites remain in use and they continue to kill the innocent.

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First, Congress must codify the pending legislation within the Infrastructure Bill which passed the Senate and would compel the Federal Highway Administration to implement these safety measures that would restore crash testing integrity.

Second, while U.S. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg may have inherited this problem, he now owns it. Secretary Buttigieg must require the Federal Highway Administration to issue guidance to replace all X-Lites.

Finally, Lindsay Corp. has disclosed it is being investigated by the Department of Justice under the Federal False Claims Act.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and DOJ attorneys must move forward with this case. When the fraudulent actions of corporations kill and maim the innocent, they must be held accountable.

Steve Eimers is an outspoken Tennessee father, who after the death of his daughter Hannah, became a tenacious advocate for roadside safety.