Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Samantha Hayes ReportingFlorence: "Those cables saved us because the bus would have just gone straight to the other side. We would have turned over."
Like a catcher's mitt the cable barrier along 1-15 stopped a bus from hitting other cars head-on. Today it's getting the credit for saving lives -- those on the bus and others on the road when the bus went out of control.
The steel cable barrier is something many drivers don't even notice, and if you have it's hard to believe it can stop a car, let alone a bus. Even engineers are surprised at the strength and success of this device, especially after seeing what happened in Utah County yesterday.
The steel cables are designed to stretch like a rubber band, just far enough to absorb the impact of an oncoming car and prevent it from hitting another head-on. But a bus? They thought that might be too much and are glad to be proven wrong.
Three steel cables ripped of their posts and stretched to the limit around a Greyhound bus and across the interstate median. That is what is supposed to happen. UHP Lieutenant Al Christianson has seen it work many times.
Lt. Al Christianson, Utah Highway Patrol: "I've seen countless lives saved from the cable system."
He's never seen it work like this though. The cables caught a Greyhound bus being driven across the median by an out of control passenger.
Lt. Al Christianson, Utah Highway Patrol: "It's interesting to me to see it because the bus did not trip or roll over, it's very effective."
UDOT says it has seen so much success with the cable barriers, they are going forward and installing more all over the state including on I-215 east and 3900 south.
Robert Hull, Director of Traffic and Safety: "We've had a history of crashes there, crossing over that median.. That's an area, an open gap we felt like we could close off and improve safety."
The steel cable barrier is a relatively new device. UDOT started installing it along intestates and highways two years ago. At that point engineers knew it would prevent head-on collisions; that's what the test video showed anyway. Its ability to stop a bus is something they had not seen.
Robert Hull, Director of Traffic and Safety: "It's actually surprising because the cable is not really intended to handle that size of vehicle, the angle hit and the speed of the bus. It's exciting to see that."
It's not often you hear UDOT engineers this happy about something. They also point out it only takes about 30 minutes to reinstall the cables once torn out in a crash. It's less expensive than concrete too.
