The future of highway barriers?

Eighty-five miles of a new type of freeway barrier are being installed on I-10 between Houston and San Antonio — and it's made of high-strength steel cables rather than concrete. The Gibraltar Barrier System, made by a company in Burnet, got Federal Highway Administration approval last year as a median and roadside barrier, and officials say it will injure fewer people and cause less damage to vehicles in freeway crashes. Whereas old-style concrete barriers crunch and bounce cars, the Gibraltar cables give when they're hit, absorbing more of the impact. That didn't stop one motorist from worrying:

"It's like putting a guitar string in the middle of the highway. It'll cut a truck wide open. It'll cut a car wide open. You think it'll cut a car wide open? Yeah it'll get somebody killed," said driver Bobby Ratliff.

TxDOT said it's installing the cables, which cost about $100,000 a mile, in areas with high traffic and high accident rates. Though the installation is still in progress, the state reports 20 vehicles have already run into the new barriers.