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Dave Gushue, Ph.D. is the VP and Director of Biomechanics at ARCCA, where he uses his expertise in biomechanical engineering to analyze injuries and associated causation. He will be co-presenting “The Anatomy of an Injury:  What You See May Not Be What You Get” with David Hershey, Corporate Risk Manager at Axel Johnson Inc., on April 25th at 2:45 pm during the RIMS Annual Conference at the Philadelphia Convention Center. When you have a case or claim involving bodily injury it is important to investigate causation, which is essential when determining whether the person’s injury was work-related or from Sunday softball……

A high school student was working at a boat sales and service shop and was asked to adjust the idle speed on a customer’s boat. The boat had a 120 horsepower engine. He removed the engine cover to perform the service. A flywheel and ring gear were located on the top of the engine with no cover or guard. The service required the engine to be running to adjust the idle speed, and the mechanic was attempting to adjust the throttle stop screw when his right arm contacted the unguarded rotating flywheel causing significant injuries to his arm. When investigating…..

We are pleased to announce that a technical paper researched and authored by a team of ARCCA’s engineers has just been approved for publication by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International.  The paper is titled “Validating Google Earth Pro as a Scientific Utility for Use in Accident Reconstruction”. With the prevalence of satellite imagery in the analysis of collision events growing in the field of accident reconstruction, their research aims to quantify, refine, and compare the accuracies of measurements obtained utilizing conventional instruments to the measurements obtained using Google Earth Pro software. Google Earth Pro often provides clear images…..

Autonomous racing? Robot cars racing each other, humans programming them, and no risk to humans involved in 199 MPH collisions? Sounds like a video game, but it’s real. And it looks awesome. Roborace will pit self-driving race cars against each other, and the design is a 2,149 pound beauty (when you don’t have to design for a human occupant, the designs are insane). It is an electric Formula E circuit, so four 300-kW electric motors power each wheel. We will totally watch this. If the words “tort law”, “computer tortfeasors”, and “negligence standards” get you excited (particularly all the attorneys…..

Slips, trips and falls occur on a regular basis and for a variety of reasons. Dr. Angela Levitan, PhD, a Senior Biomechanist and Certified Professional Ergonomist at ARCCA, will discuss the causative factors involved in slip, trip and fall events via a webinar to be held Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at 1 pm EST. The NASP (National Association of Subrogation Professionals) will be hosting the webinar. Dr. Angela Levitan presentation will show how biomechanical injury analyses are used to address both damages (i.e. whether the claimed injuries occurred in the described event) and liability (i.e. whether a purported defect was…..

One of the most interesting innovations that will shake out of the autonomous vehicle revolution will be the legislation of this new segment. As of now, legislation is left up to the states, which has created different playgrounds for autonomous vehicles and different rules for each playground. Today we’ll take a look at Michigan’s new rules for autonomous vehicles. Michigan signed groundbreaking legislation into law that allows more freedom to autonomous car manufacturers than ever before. The group of bills, known formally as Senate Bills 995-998 or collectively as the SAVE Act, allows manufacturers to (1) put automated vehicles on highways…..

PETER CHEN, M.S.M.E., M.B.A., P.E. Peter is a Mechanical Engineer at ARCCA specializing in Product Failure/Liability, Car and Truck Failure Analysis, Industrial Equipment (manufacturing, production, assembly, construction and HVAC), Worksite Safety, Elevators/Escalators, Aviation, Medical/Rehabilitative and Exercise Equipment, Warnings and Instruction, Fire Cause/Origin, Accident Reconstruction, and Transportation, including Railroad Mishap Investigation. In addition to earning his Master of Science and Bachelor degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, he is also an ACTAR-certified Accident Reconstructionist, a Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator, a Certified Crash Data Retrieval Analyst and a JLG Certified Equipment Trainer. While previously working for a…..

Every year, the auto industry attempts to innovate new ways to make the driving experience “smarter” to compete with the rapidly changing smartphone and device segment. The in-dash infotainment center (the words “information” and “entertainment” combined) is their best chance to grab your attention (and your data) when you are driving your vehicle. Some infotainment features include hands-free voice technology, apps, integrated GPS, and 4G-connectivity capabilities. These are just some of the functions we as consumers are aware of. But what about the other capabilities our infotainment systems have that we generally take for granted or do not even know…..

GARY WHITMAN, B.S.M.E. Gary is Director of Crashworthiness at ARCCA and is a premier expert in the fields of occupant crash protection, restraint systems, emergency escape, crash safety and survival, and life support engineering. His main focus is research, testing, design, and development of occupant crash safety systems, including child safety seats, and he has collaborated with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the American Academy of Pediatric Child Injury Prevention, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia regarding child restraint research and investigation projects. Gary was also the technical lead on several programs to develop an…..