5 months ago
A roadway project in Bibb County could save lives in an accident, according to transportation officials.
Driving down I-16 and I-75, you may notice something new along the side of the highway.
It's a new barrier system, and transportation officials say it could save a life.
Until now, metal guard rails or concrete barriers were all you would see along Central Georgia highways.
"You see too many twisted and broken ones along the way, and you wonder about them," says Wanda Jarzynka, who lives in Bonaire.
But some law enforcement officials say these new low-tension cable barriers are a welcome addition.
"If a person involved in an accident hits a metal guardrail," says Deputy Sean Defoe with Bibb County Sheriff's Office. "You have a chance of bouncing back into traffic. And also the metal guardrails do no absorb the impact as much as these cable barriers will."
According to the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, in 2006, more than three-thousand Georgians were involved in guard rail collisions. About 36 of them died.
However, the new guard rails, called low-tension cable barriers, bend more than metal or concrete barriers, causing less damage to a car, and potentially fewer injuries.
According to officials, the cables are designed to catch vehicles and guide them gradually to a stop. They say the cables also cost less to install and are easier to replace.
While some say this new system will be a benefit to highway drivers overall, Deputy Sean Defoe with Bibb County Sheriff's Office says there are some disadvantages.
"We have emergency lanes we can cut through," says Defoe. "They used to have 2 miles, now they have to drive 5 miles, if they have to turn around to get to an accident."
But DeFoe says that's a small price to prevent dangerous head-on collisions.
