I-80 cable barriers saved couple’s lives

On Aug. 11, the same day The Gazette ran the story about the new cable barriers being installed on Interstate 380, my husband Jim and I were involved in a very serious car accident on Interstate 80 westbound.

On this day, these same cable barriers saved our lives and potentially many others. We were traveling to the State Fair in Des Moines to attend that evening's concert when we were hit by a semi tractor trailer. The semi miscalculated his re-entry into the slow lane of traffic, hitting the driver's side rear door. This rotated our car into the front of the semi and then catapulted us into the median. Our vehicle took out four of the cable posts before our car finally came to rest with the rear end suspended on top of another post.

There is no doubt that our vehicle would have ended up across the median and into the eastbound traffic without the cable. Although our vehicle was totaled, we walked out of our vehicle without injury.

A Jasper County deputy told us that the cable barriers had just been installed along that stretch of road three weeks before. Our being alive or not critically injured was truly a miracle and we credit our God in heaven with using those cable barriers to save our lives and countless others.

Terri and Jim Archibald

Cedar Rapids