Project Summary:
This story is part of KXAN’s “Preventing Disaster” investigation, which initially published on May 15, 2024. The project follows a fatal car crash into an Austin hospital’s emergency room earlier that year. Our team took a broader look at safety concerns with that crash and hundreds of others across the nation – including whether medical sites had security barriers – known as bollards – at their entrances. Experts say those could stop crashes from happening.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The U.S. Department of Transportation is “willing to look at” a policy to require safety barriers at critical infrastructure sites, like hospitals — more than two years after a KXAN investigation found hundreds of crashes involving various unprotected medical sites across the country over the past decade.
“I think the Department of Transportation is willing to look at all possible solutions,” DOT General Counsel, and Texas resident, Gregory Zerzan told KXAN on Thursday. “Our mission is to ensure safety, while also allowing innovation to flourish. So, we don’t rule anything out. Our number one goal is keeping people safe.”
The remarks come more than two years after a drunk driver crashed into the unprotected emergency room entrance of St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. The driver died in the crash, which seriously injured several others. The hospital was sued for “gross negligence” for not having safety barriers, called bollards, at the time of the crash. The hospital system settled out of court in December for an undisclosed amount. St. David’s previously told KXAN it couldn’t comment on litigation but said, “the safety of our patients and their families, as well as our employees and visitors, is always our top priority.”…