- The FHA tightens its standards for highway guardrails, closing a loophole that allowed guardrail makers to revise older devices without additional crash tests.
- The agency has been under heavy scrutiny since a jury found Trinity Industries (NYSE:TRN) liable last year for defrauding the U.S. government by failing to disclose design modifications to a guardrail unit.
- Under the new rules, which take effect next year, if a manufacturer makes a modification to an existing roadside device, it must be crash-tested in line with the strictest safety measures even if it has already been deemed safe in the past under older guidelines.
- The U.S. Justice Department is still pursuing a criminal investigation of TRN and its dealings with the FHA, and last month sent a subpoena to the company seeking more than 10 years’ worth of records on its guardrail products.