Tennessee bills dead teen $3K to replace guardrail that killed her

LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. — Hannah Eimers, 17, was driving her father's car in November when she lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a guardrail on the driver's side, killing her. Months later, Eimers' father received a bill from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to replace the guardrail.

According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Steven Eimers got the $3,000 bill four months after Hannah's death but refused to pay it and called the model of the guardrail "horribly designed." He told the News-Sentinel that he couldn't believe that the state would "bill my daughter for the defective device that killed her."

Rather than deflecting the car or absorbing its impact, the guardrail, which was removed from the department’s list of approved products a week before the crash, reportedly impaled the vehicle and struck Hannah in the head and chest, killing her instantly.

"I'm shocked," Eimers told the News-Sentinel. "The audacity. 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 leave them in place."

Mark Nagi, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, insisted that the bill was sent as a result of a “mistake somewhere in processing" and apologized. He also said Eimers will not have to pay the bill, which covered both the cost of labor and materials.

Cox Media Group