20 may be of the type known as a react reusable energy absorbing crash terminal cylinder sold by roadway safety service inc of ronkonkoma n y each cylinder 20 is of high molecular weight high density hmw hdpe polyethylene and may be about 3 feet in diameter with a wall thickness within the range of 0 80 to 1 85 inches upon impact of an errant car with rails 12 the cylinders 20 adjacent the area of impact will be compressed or flattened allowing rail 12 to be displaced outwardly away from the track in the direction of movement of the errant car this movement absorbs some or all of the impact energy reducing damage to the car and rails 12 and the rails redirect the car with no snagging back toward the track with little or no deceleration following the impact cylinders 20 return to their original diameter restoring rails 12 to their normal position referring to fig5 another form of an energy absorbing assembly 16a includes a plurality of used rubber tires 30 bundled three together side by side and stacked two bundles high for axial compression the tires replacing cylinders 20 of fig1 4 to enhance and stabilize the compression rate of the tires the tires may be filled with foam in another modification illustrated in fig6 the compression guardrail of the invention may be used in conjunction with other fixed barriers or obstacles such as a concrete wall 40 rather than posts 14 the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in.