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A picture is worth a thousand words – and scene photographs even more so. However, not all photographs are good ones, and the kind that are might surprise you! That’s why ARCCA’s Scott Kline is here to explain what types of scene photos are most useful to reconstructionists, in this Ask an Expert short: Mr. Kline is a Senior Accident Reconstructionist who specializes in the investigation of all types of motor vehicle and commercial collisions (particularly Heavy Truck incidents), including, but not limited to, commercial vehicle accident reconstruction, imaging of event data recorders in commercial and passenger vehicles, automotive fraud,…..

On a brisk December morning in the early 2000s, an elf-involved collision occurred at an intersection in midtown Manhattan. To an accident reconstructionist asked to evaluate this incident, there are several questions that may arise, including: Who had the permissive traffic signal at the intersection? How fast was the taxi cab going at the moment of impact? How long was Buddy the Elf a hazard, and did the driver of the taxi respond prudently? Did a double-parked vehicle block the sight line between the two parties prior to impact? Any of the above questions may prove to be the most…..

After an accident, there are likely many things going through a person’s mind – their safety, that of other drivers, how they will get to work the next day – the last thing crossing it will likely be litigation. However, the time immediately after a crash is the most important time for recording and preserving evidence, and crucial for the reconstructionist that will one day work the case. In this Ask an Expert short, ARCCA’s Scott Kline shares his thoughts on these critical minutes post-collision: Mr. Kline is a Senior Accident Reconstructionist who specializes in the investigation of all types…..

One of ARCCA’s Senior Consultants Tim Joganich, M.S., CHFP, recently co-authored the panel discussion  ‘Safety Considerations for Cyclists and Pedestrians’ in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonoics Society Annual Meeting. This panel discussion, led by six experts in the area of human factors, discussed how the field of human factors can be used to prevent accidents to cyclists and pedestrians as vulnerable road users. ‘Safety Considerations for Cyclists and Pedestrians’ is available online through SAGE Journals.   Karn, K. S., Joganich, T., Tyrrell, R. A., Panik, R. T., Lee, J. D., & Schwebel, D. C. (2022). Safety Considerations…..

ARCCA’s Brendan Morse recently appeared as a guest on the Trucksafe LIVE! podcast to discuss the anatomy of a commercial vehicle accident, including what steps fleets and drivers should take immediately following such an accident to best protect themselves and preserve the evidence.   The episode can be listened to on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, as well as on YouTube (below):     Trucksafe Consulting is a full-service DOT regulatory compliance consulting and training service. We help carriers develop, implement, and improve their safety programs, through personalized service and industry-leading training resources. For more information, please visit them online on…..

In Automotive Seat Belt Torsion Bars – Design Issues Part 1, the design philosophy behind the use of load limiting Automotive Seat Belt Torsion Bars and their risks and purported benefit to occupants through reduction of shoulder belt loads traded off against the control of head motion. The window of purported seat belt torsion bar benefit occurs when the occupant is perfectly aligned and is moving into a deploying airbag.  However, it is clear that problems may arise if the torsion bar is allowed to deploy during non-frontal crashes where the frontal airbag does not normally deploy, or the occupant…..

  Seat belts in cars contain a device called a “seat belt retractor”. This device holds the seat belt webbing and also contains a seat belt locking mechanism that activates during a crash or hard breaking. Many seat belt retractors have an internal part called a “seat belt torsion bar”. Seat Belt Torsion Bars, What are they?: Seat Belt Torsion bars are members of the “load limiting” family of devices used in automotive seat belts to manage the crash force experienced by vehicle occupants during crashes, primarily frontal ones.  Load limiting devices operate on the scientific principle of energy management…..

Introducing Vasiliki Kefala, Ph.D. out of our ARCCA office in Philadelphia!

Seat belt use in the United States has reached a high of 90.4 percent according to a recent government survey¹.  There has been a steady increase in seat belt usage in this country as a result of individual state mandatory use laws, as well as an increased awareness and knowledge of crashworthiness and safety issues by the motoring public in general.  The need to restrain occupants within vehicles to provide protection during crashes has been well known for many years in the occupant crash protection area in general, and in the automobile industry in particular. It has also been the…..