A new report from wfmynews2.com reveals that dangerous guardrail heads remain on roads throughout Virginia, North Carolina and other states across the country. Though more than thirty states have temporarily banned the installation of the ET-Plus guardrail end terminal, experts say few of these potentially deadly devices have actually been removed from the roads. That’s a problem, because drivers and passengers alike are at risk for these safety devices to take a turn toward the dangerous.

Much of the issue lies in the fact that road crews do not often keep track of which device is installed where. Federal Highway Administration guidelines – issued in 2005 – states that crews should know exactly what kind of guardrail end terminal is installed along each road. One North Carolina contractor estimated that of the 10,000 guardrail end caps on their roads, 95% of them were indeed the dangerous ET-Plus model.

Only a few states have started to create plans to remove the devices from their roads – one being Virginia. Nashville, TN recently started actively removing the guardrail end terminals from their roads.

Still, thousands of these ET-Plus guardrails remain on the Commonwealth’s roads, likely because of the lack of record keeping regarding the installation of the devices through the years. Experts say that until these guardrail heads are removed and replaced, there isn’t much drivers can do except try to avoid crashing into them.

These safety devices are designed to absorb the speed from colliding cars by pushing sharp guardrail sides backward and away from the vehicles. Instead, the ET-Plus has been known to pierce cars, often injuring and even killing those inside. Some people have had their limbs amputated in accidents involving guardrail end terminals.