Submitted Photo Hanna Eimers was killed in 2016 after her vehicle hit an X-Lite guardrail in Tennessee. Her father has written to state Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking that the guard rail end terminals be removed throughout New York.

By ERIC TICHY

editorial@observertoday.com

A Fredonia native whose daughter died in a car crash after striking a guardrail last year in Tennessee has set his sights on Albany.

Stephen Eimers sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday to ask for the removal of about two dozen specific guardrail end terminals from the state. The formal request — with state Sen. Cathy Young and Assemblyman Andy Goodell already outspoken proponents — comes more than a year after Eimers’ daughter, Hannah, was killed after the vehicle she was driving left Interstate 75 in Tennessee, crossed into the median and struck the end of a guardrail on the driver’s side door.

Instead of re-directing the car, the guardrail pierced the vehicle. Hannah, who was born in Fredonia and was 17 years old at the time of the Nov. 1, 2016, crash, was killed instantly.

The particular guardrail system involved in the crash — known as the Lindsay X-Lite end terminal, produced by the Lindsay Corporation — had been removed from the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s list of approved products just days prior.

In his letter, Eimers asked the governor to identify all X-Lite guardrails throughout New York, review crash test reports from departments of transportation in other states and work with state lawmakers to secure funding for the removal of the guardrails.

“I know how bad this feels,” Eimers said during a phone interview. “I have called so many families and priests, and I have called funeral homes. I don’t want another family to have to share in this horror. These are very real concerns.”

Eimers said he is convinced the X-Lite is to blame for his daughter’s death and has set out to get the devices removed from roads across the country. He has written to governors in other states where the devices are used and also met with the acting deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration.

He was told there are 24 X-Lite end terminals in New York.

“My goal is for the Federal Highway Administration to rescind all the contracts and for there to be a national recall of the products,” Eimers said. “They need to come out of the ground.”

Eimers noted that the specific devices are being removed in Tennessee and Missouri, while Virginia has conducted two independent crash tests.

On its website, Lindsay Corporation said the X-Lite guardrail system is on the list approved products in 33 states, though only 29 states currently have them installed. Nationwide, there are about 14,000 devices, with about 80 percent found in seven states.

The company noted that the Federal Highway Administration in May examined end terminal data, and found “no reason to conclude that the devices reviewed, including the X-Lite, are unsafe.”

However, that hasn’t stopped state officials from trying to remove the end terminals from New York. In June, Young introduced two pieces of legislation in the State Senate that would remove the X-Lite guardrails from the list of products that could be used on local and state roads. The legislation — which Goodell sponsored in the Assembly — would also ban X-Lite and similar products, as well as identify and remove all existing devices currently installed.

The bills passed in the Senate, but not Assembly. Young said she plans to reintroduce the bills in the next session.

“Every New Yorker should be concerned that the deadly X-Lite guardrails that tragically took the life of 17-year-old Hannah Eimers, are still in place on certain sections of our state’s roadways,” Young said in a statement Friday. “I stood alongside Stephen Eimers in 2017 and vowed that I would fight with him to remove these dangerous guardrails from our highways.”

Young noted that while her legislation was “stymied in the Assembly,” she is hopeful a new session will see the bills arrive on the governor’s desk to become law.

“No other families should have to endure the unthinkable loss that the Eimers have suffered,” she said. “It is time to act.”

“Our highway guardrails are intended to save lives, not take lives,” Goodell said. “This defective design is extremely dangerous, and should be corrected as quickly as possible.”

Eimers said his family, which consists of both biological and adopted children, has helped each other cope with the loss of Hannah.

“With a family of this size there are so many activities that you have to keep going,” he said. “You don’t have the option to wallow in pity.”

Shortly before he death, Hannah encouraged her parents to adopt a baby from a friend of hers that couldn’t care for the child. Though Eimers said he was hesitant with the idea, the family decided to go through with the adoption.

Eimers said the child, named Nick, has been a “rainbow in an otherwise dark time.”

“In the end I’m hoping the governor can step up and lead on this issue,” Eimers said. “I’m hoping to honor my daughter. … I don’t want another family to go through what we did. I can’t stay silent.”