The ‘Guardrail Guy’ Went Viral for Posting About Flock Cameras. Then Someone Destroyed Them
Steve Elmers, also known as the “Guardrail Guy,” is done calling out license plate readers after two that appeared in his videos were vandalized.
Steve Eimers has racked up hundreds of thousands of followers across platforms like YouTube , TikTok , and X . Under the moniker “The Guardrail Guy,” he posts about installation issues with guardrails lining roadways across the country. He began posting about guardrails in 2022 , a few years after his 17-year-old daughter Hannah was killed when she collided with a guardrail that pierced through her car rather than guiding it back to the road.
In April , Eimers began posting about another hallmark of American roads: automatic license plate readers (ALPRs).
ALPRs, sold by companies like Flock and Axon , use mounted cameras to capture vehicular data, which can be used to track people suspected of committing crimes. Eimers expanded his safety advocacy because he believes ALPRs may pose serious risks to passengers in the event of a crash. His claim is that many ALPRs are installed too close to guardrails, which undermines their functionality, or are placed on existing road signs, which can negate the ability of “ breakaway ” posts to function safely upon impact.
His videos about ALPRs touched a nerve. The devices have become increasingly controversial, and cities across the country are weighing their effectiveness against the risks of misuse . Though Eimers’ videos focused on whether the cameras were “ crashworthy ,” many commenters believed the cameras were invasive and represented a quiet expansion of mass surveillance in their own neighborhoods.
Eimers noted, with alarm, that an increasing number of people were telling him to destroy the cameras, and some were furious that he hadn’t. Others wanted to know the exact location of the cameras in his posts, or suggested that they contained metals like gold, silver, and copper. Some suggested specific vandalism methods.
“Large diameter pipe cutter,” read a comment on a video Eimers posted on July 24, accompanied by a picture of a large-diameter pipe cutter. “Nice and quiet, cuts it like butter!!!!”
