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WEBVTT BARRY: HE SPENT SIX DAYS RECOVERING. 18-YEAR-OLD JACOB GREEN IS SORE, BUT BACK ON HIS ELECTRICIAN’S JOB. HE WAS HEADING TO WORK WHEN HE GOT KNOCKED OUT BY A HIGHWAY SAFETY DEVICE THAT BECAME DANGEROUS, FLYING ROAD DEBRIS. >> I DIDN’T SEE IT COMING AT ALL. BARRY JACOB’S BOSS WAS DRIVING : THIS VAN LAST MONTH ALONG ROUTE 50 IN STEVENSVILLE ON THE EASTERN SHORE HE THOUGHT A LEAF WAS FLOATING IN THE AIR. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A METAL RO REFLECTOR WEIGHING ABOUT SIX POUNDS SOARING TOWARD HIM. IT CRASHED THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD INJURING JACOB SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. >> HIT ME IN THE CHEST AND IT KNOCKED ME OUT. BARRY JACOB SAYS HE WOKE UP TO : THE SOUND OF WIND COMING THROUGH THE BROKEN GLASS. THEN PASSED OUT AGAIN. HIS BOSS DROVE HIM TO THIS FIRE STATION FOR HELP. >> PANIC, IT WAS SHEER PANIC. BARRY JACOB’S MOTHER DESCRIBES : HIS CALL TO HER. >> HE SAID MOM AND I SAID YEAH, AND I SAID WHAT DO YOU NEED? I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT. I AM ON MY WAY. MOM? BARRY SHE SAYS THAT’S WHEN A : PARAMEDIC TOOK THE PHONE AND EXPLAINED WHAT HAPPENED. DOCTORS CHECKED JACOB DETERMINED HE HAD A BRUISED RIB AND BRUISED SHOULDER. THEY RELEASED HIM FROM THE HOSPITAL THAT SAME DAY. THE NEXT DAY HIS MOTHER CONTACTED THE STATE. >> THAT INCIDENT IS OBVIOUSLY VERY CONCERNING TO US. BARRY THE STATE HIGHWAY : ADMINISTRATION CALLS THIS IS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT LIKE OTHERS IN THE PAST SAYING IT’S BEEN THE WETTEST SEASON ON RECORD AND THAT’S HELPED CREATE PLENTY OF POTHOLES THAT CAN LOOSEN THE METAL REFLECTORS. >> DESPITE HOW ISOLATED IT IS WE REMAIN CONCERNED ABOUT TRYING TO -- AND WE ARE DIRECTING ALL OF OUR ATTENTION RIGHT NOW TO MAKE SURE DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. BARRY: OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS, THE I-TEAM HAS REPORTED ON HOW THE DEVICES HAVE BEEN KICKED UP FROM THE ROADWAY BY OTHER VEHICLES FRIGHTENING DRIVERS LIKE LESLIE JACKSON BACK IN 2014 WHEN ONE OF THEM CAME CRASHING THROUGH HER WINDSHIELD. >> GLASS HIT MY FACE, IT WENT EVERYWHERE. BARRY DRIVER MARK WANCOWICZ WAS : INJURED. >> IT COMES TO THE WINDOW AND IT HIT ME IN THE HEAD. BARRY HE NEEDED EIGHT STITCHES. :>> THIS IS OLD TECHNOLOGY. BARRY IN OCTOBER WE REPORTED HOW : STATE HIGHWAY CREWS ARE NOW REMOVING THE METAL REFLECTORS AND REPLACING THEM WITH LIGHTER WEIGHT PLASTIC ONES. YET WE LEARNED THIS AREA OF ROUTE 50 IS NOT SCHEDULED FOR THE NEW, SAFER PLASTIC MARKERS FOR SOME TIME. THEY ARE ONLY INSTALLED WHEN A ROAD IS SCHEDULED FOR REPAVING AND THIS ROAD WAS RE-PAVED JUST A YEAR AGO STILL USING THE OLD HEAVY ROAD REFLECTORS. THAT WORRIES JACOB’S MOTHER. >> BY THE GRACE OF GOD WE WERE LUCKY. HE HAD 10 GUARDIAN ANGELS THAT DAY. WE WERE LUCKY BUT THE NEXT PERSON MIGHT NOT BE SO LUCKY. BARRY: MDOT STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION OFFCIALS TELL US THEY WILL GATHER EXPERTS TO DETERMINE A MORE EXPEDITIOUS WAY TO GET THE METAL RAISED PAVEMENT MARKINGS OFF THE ROA MEANTIME, JACOB GREEN STILL THINKS ABOUT HIS RUN IN WITH A ROAD REFLECTOR. >> IT’S THE CRAZIEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO ME. BARRY: FOR THE 11 NEWS I-TEAM I’M BARRY SIMMS. ,ASHLEY AFTER JACOB GREEN’S : INJURY, ROAD CREWS INSPECTED THAT PART OF ROUTE 50 AND REMOVED TWO OTHER METAL MARKERS THAT WERE COMING LOSE AND CO

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It's not a new story: a metal road reflector on a Maryland highway has once again crashed through a windshield and injured a passenger. Over the past several years, I-Team investigative reporter Barry Simms has reported on road reflector dangers and what state highway crews are doing to prevent them. Now he's asking why it keeps happening.After spending six days recovering, Jacob Green, 18, is sore, but back on his electrician's job. He was heading to work when he got knocked out by a highway safety device that became dangerous, flying road debris. "I didn't see it coming at all," he said.Green's boss was driving last month along Route 50 in Stevensville on the Eastern Shore. He thought a leaf was floating in the air, but it turned out to be a metal road reflector, weighing about 6 pounds, soaring towards him. It crashed through the windshield, injuring Green, who was sitting in the passenger seat."Hit me in the chest and it knocked me out," Green said.Green said he woke up to the sound of wind coming through the broken glass, then passed out again. His boss drove him to a fire station for help. Jacob's mother, Julie, described his call to her as sheer panic before a paramedic took the phone from him and explained what happened.Doctors checked Green and determined he had a bruised rib and bruised shoulder. They released him from the hospital that same day. The next day, his mother contacted the state."That incident is obviously very concerning to us," said John Schofield, of the Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration.The SHA calls it is an isolated incident, like others in the past, saying, it's been the wettest season on record which has helped create plenty of potholes that can loosen the metal reflectors. "Despite how isolated it is, we remain concerned about trying to direct all of our attention to make sure it doesn't happen again," Schofield said.Over the past four years, the I-Team has reported on how the devices have been kicked up from the roadway by other vehicles, frightening drivers like Leslie Jackson back in May 2014, when one of them came crashing through her windshield."Glass hit my face and it went everywhere," Jackson said.Driver Mark Wancowicz was also injured in April 2014. He needed eight stitches. "The road reflector comes through the window. It's 'ba-bam.' It hit me in the head," Wancowicz said.In October, 11 News reported State Highway crews are now removing the metal reflectors and replacing them with lighter-weight, plastic ones. Yet, 11 News learned one area of Route 50 is not scheduled for the new, safer plastic markers for some time. They are only installed when a road is scheduled for repaving, and the road was re-paved just a year ago, still using the old, heavy road reflectors. That worries Green's mother. "By the grace of God we were lucky. He had 10 guardian angels that day. We were lucky, but the next person might not be so lucky," Julie Green said.MDOT SHA officials said they will gather experts to determine a more expeditious way to get the metal-raised pavement markings off the road. In the meantime, Green still thinks about his run-in with a road reflector. "It's the craziest thing that's ever happened to me," he said.After Green's injury, road crews inspected that part of Route 50 and removed two other metal markers that were coming lose and could pose a danger.​