US state sends bill for road rail damages to a teenager who was killed by it

Hannah Eimers was killed in an accident last November

A teenager killed in a car accident last November has been fined almost $3,000 by the State of Tennessee for damaging a guardrail during the incident, the Telegraph reported.

According to the newspaper, Hannah Eimers was killed last year after her car drove into the end of the guardrail – which instead of secure the impact or deflecting the vehicle, hit the 17-year-old in the head leading to her demise.

According to the USA Today, the state department of transportation sent a US$2,790 bill the teenager’s house for the cost of labour and materials in the rebuilding of the 25-feet rail.

"I’m shocked, the audacity," said Steve Eimers, the victim’s father. "What bothers me is that they’re playing Russian roulette with people's lives. They know these devices do not perform at high speeds and in situations like my daughter’s accident, but they leave them in place."

The US daily said that Eimers intends to "push authorities to remove and replace all guardrail ends that are deemed dangerous."

"I've got to be able to look the next mom or dad in the eye and say, 'I tried to make some changes in the culture of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. I tried to get some dangerous devices off the road,' " he said.

The newspaper quotes Mark Nagi, a spokesperson for the state who apologised to the family, as saying that the bill was "a mistake somewhere in processing". He said another letter was being sent to explain the error.

Nagi added that the "guardrail, which is supposed to collapse like a telescope when hit on the end, didn't always work as expected at speeds higher than about 60 mph" while the "speed limit along the stretch of I-75 where Hannah died was 70 mph."