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President’s Message: 2008 CDR Users Conference:
Allow me to pose a hypothetical construct. You were driving your car at night on the way home after a long day. Traffic was light in the 30mph zone and you waited in the left turn lane for the light to change. You saw a break in the traffic and accelerated. Suddenly you were broadsided by an oncoming car. The police find you at fault for an unsafe turn. Your only defense is that you thought you had time and the other guy must have been speeding. The other driver, a teenager driving his dad’s new Impala, admits he was in a hurry to get home, but says he wasn’t speeding when you pulled out in front of him. An accident reconstruction puts his speed between 28 and 33 mph at impact. Are you out of luck? The answer may lie in the CDR.
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President's Message: Safety First or Look Out Below...
The gas station up the corner from our office was torn down and a new section of single story retail stores are under construction. About a month ago, as I waited at a red light, I watched the construction crew tilt up a prefabricated exterior wall. They used a forklift (ok) and a scissors lift (not ok) to tilt it up. There was one fellow standing on the forks (15 feet in the air) tugging vigorously at fabric straps that fastened the wall to the forks, in a vain effort to release them. He wore no safety harness.
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President’s Message: SAE Conference
Last month, I had the opportunity to attend an SAE conference in Ashburn, Virginia at the NTSB Training Center. |
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Sometimes you just need a break. |
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President's Message: Be Quick
We received a mid-week assignment by telephone to investigate a vehicular brake failure. A heavy duty, four door pickup truck with a lift kit and extra large tires, rear-ended a car at the bottom of a freeway exit ramp (apparently with very little damage to the truck). It was owned by a used car company and a prospective buyer was concluding a test drive (!). The driver was unable to stop the truck in time at the bottom of the ramp before striking the next car.
Brake failure was the reason he gave for the accident. The dealer sold the truck that Saturday. We told them that we could still inspect the vehicle, but they were unwilling to call the buyer and tell them, "A previous prospective buyer of your shiny new truck rear-ended another car earlier this week and claimed brake failure-we just want to make sure that your truck is safe".
I guess I understand why-but the next few times I'm stopped at the bottom of the off ramp, I'm watching the rear view mirror for a big four door pickup approaching fast. |
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