The Impact Attenuator is a non-redirective, gating crash cushion, designed to shield the end of rigid objects in both temporary and/or permanent roadside installations. It consists of an array of individual free-standing plastic sand filled barrels in consecutive row which contain gradually increasing weights of sand within the array. The attenuator barrels are not anchored to the road surface and do not require a transition to the barrier it is shielding. It can be used on concrete, asphalt, gravel, compacted dirt, and inertial (barrel/module) pallets.