Texas guardrail maker Trinity Industries to pay $663 million for not revealing design change

A federal judge is ordering a Texas company to pay $663 million for failing to tell the government about design changes to highway guardrails that critics say made the systems more dangerous.

Trinity Industries Inc. says the judgment should be thrown out.

A Trinity competitor in Virginia sued the company on behalf of the government and will receive $199 million.

A jury decided last October that Trinity defrauded the government by failing to tell regulators about changes to its ET-Plus guardrails, which are designed to fold up when hit by a car, reducing the chance of death or injury to car occupants.