“Protection” can prevent harm not just respond to it—it’s both a warning and barrier

It is further claimed that inasmuch as "the statute says nothing about the guard rails being a warning" that "the purpose, therefore, [***8] is to protect and not to warn." Since the word "protection" was used in the title of the original act and since Section 7563 contains the phrase, "they shall also protect," it may be helpful to ascertain the meaning of this term. Webster's Dictionary defines the word "protect" as follows: "To cover or shield from that which would injure, destroy or detrimentally affect. * * * to defend; to guard." Quoting again from Crabb's English Synonymes: "A person may be defended in any particular case of actual danger or difficulty; he is protected from what may happen as well as what does happen." In the light of such definitions there can be no doubt as to the use of the words "protect" and "protection" as used in these statutes. These guard rails were designed to protect the traveling public not only from what may happen but also from injury in event that something does happen. They were intended to serve both as a warning and a barrier.