NGT Performance

High Speed Crash Tests

BLASER - High Speed - 10-18-2023 - 74 mph

BLASER - High Speed - 11-16-2023 - 77.5 mph

The Gating Problem

  • Energy absorbing guardrail terminals can :

    Decelerate vehicles impacting at +/- 3 degrees.

    Allow greater angles to gate behind the guardrail at high rates of speed. 

    Exposes errant vehicles to hazards behind the guardrail

  • Gating terminals have a length of need (LON) of ~12.5 feet 

    • If a vehicle strikes at an angle before the LON the vehicle can gate

    • Trajectory is supposed to prevent striking hazard

    • Clear zone behind guardrail is required

    • Often difficult when steep slopes are present

    • LON for gating terminals increases overall length requirements of system

  • FARS Data 2018 (ongoing review/analysis)

    Approx 1,000 fatal crashes involving guardrail impact

    ~250 of these fatal crashes, most harmful event not related to guardrail impact

    Secondary impacts behind the barrier due to vehicle striking a fixed object, slope, body of water, or rolling over

The Non-Gating Solution

85% of off-road terminal crashes occur at angles of 15 degrees or less…

NGT STOPS THEM SAFELY.

  • Length of Need (LON) starts near the end 

    • Gating terminals require LON of 12-18 feet

    • NGT begins at 6.25 feet

  • No more spearing

  • Save 200+ lives per year while preventing many more serious injuries

    • Societal cost of $2.36 billion annually (fatalities only)

    • Could replace all terminals in the USA in one year and still have a Benefit-Cost ratio > 1.0

MASH and High-Speed Testing

Applus IDIADA KARCO Engineering, LLC (IDIADA KARCO)

The NGT is the first-known W-beam guardrail end terminal to successfully pass MASH TL-3 non-gating criteria, completing its AAHSTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (2016) testing in 2022. Links to the full report and videos for each test are included.

Barber Laboratory for Advanced Safety Engineering and Research (BLASER)

Continuous testing and research occurs at the BLASER facility located at the Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. The NGT has undergone extensive high-speed testing at BLASER, where it has performed within all MASH preferred criteria at speeds up to 77.5 mph. Information and videos related to these tests are included as well.

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