Recently in Accident Safety & Reconstruction Category

A public inquiry report that concluded a Taser jolt carries a small risk of death is entirely supported by the evidence and is actually confirmed by the "fine print" the company now attaches to its weapons, the British Columbia government argued Tuesday as it defended the inquiry's findings in court. Taser International is challenging the first report into the death of Robert Dziekanski, arguing commissioner Thomas Braidwood treated the company unfairly and then reached conclusions that weren't supported by the facts. 

The Taser International's co-founder and several of its own experts appeared before the hearings in 2008.  But a lawyer for B.C.'s attorney general told a judge Tuesday the conclusion that a shock from a Taser has the capacity to affect the heart is confirmed by a training bulletin issued by the company last September — two months after the report's release.  The document, which received wide media coverage and prompted police forces across Canada to adjust their policies, recommended the devices be aimed away from the heart to "avoid the remote potential risk of cardiac effect."

Read more: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) designated May 24-June 6, 2010, Click it or Ticket (CIOT) Mobilization Week.  According to a James Madison University study, one out of every five drivers will be involved in a traffic crash this year. Safety belts, when used properly, reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by 60-70 percent. CURE Auto Insurance reminds drivers to drive safe, always wear a seat belt, and provides the following statistics to consider before getting behind the wheel.

• If 90 percent of Americans buckle up, more than 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries annually can be prevented (source: car-accidents.com).

• For maximum protection, safety belts should be fastened before traveling any distance or speed. Seventy-five percent of crash deaths and injuries occur within 25 miles of home. More than half of all injury-producing motor vehicle crashes involve low speeds under 40 m.p.h. (source: James Madison University).

Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange, (CURE) is a not-for-profit reciprocal exchange headquartered in Princeton, N.J. Founded in 1990 by New Jersey Insurance Commissioner James J. Sheeran and award-winning insurance expert, Dr. Lena Chang.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) designated May 24-June 6, 2010, Click it or Ticket (CIOT) Mobilization Week.  According to a James Madison University study, one out of every five drivers will be involved in a traffic crash this year. Safety belts, when used properly, reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by 60-70 percent. CURE Auto Insurance reminds drivers to drive safe, always wear a seatbelt, and provides the following statistics to consider before getting behind the wheel.

• Adults who don't buckle up are sending children a deadly message that it is alright not to wear a seat belt. Children model adult behavior. Research shows that if a driver is unbuckled, 70 percent of the time children riding in that vehicle won't be buckled either (source: NHTSA).

• Despite terrible traffic problems such as aggressive driving, increasing seat belt use is still the single most effective thing we can do to save lives and reduce injuries on Americas roadways (source: NHTSA). Sixty-three percent of people killed in car accidents were not wearing seatbelts (car-accidents.com).

Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange, (CURE) is a not-for-profit reciprocal exchange headquartered in Princeton, N.J. Founded in 1990 by New Jersey Insurance Commissioner James J. Sheeran and award-winning insurance expert, Dr. Lena Chang.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) designated May 24-June 6, 2010, Click it or Ticket (CIOT) Mobilization Week.  According to a James Madison University study, one out of every five drivers will be involved in a traffic crash this year. Safety belts, when used properly, reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by 60-70 percent. CURE Auto Insurance reminds drivers to drive safe, always wear a seatbelt, and provides the following statistics to consider before getting behind the wheel.

• Failure to buckle up contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety-related behavior. Every hour someone dies in America simply because they didn't buckle up (source: NHTSA).

• Safety belt use is one of the best defenses against the unpredictable actions of drunk drivers (source: James Madison University).

Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange, (CURE) is a not-for-profit reciprocal exchange headquartered in Princeton, N.J. Founded in 1990 by New Jersey Insurance Commissioner James J. Sheeran and award-winning insurance expert, Dr. Lena Chang.

Accident reconstruction expert Bruce Enz testified for the prosecution in the Greene County trial of Jeff Adams saying his investigation indicated Jerry Marker was going the speed limit, 40 mph, when his motorcycle was hit by Preston Williams' black Camaro in a "dead-on, head-on" crash on May 9, 2009. Enz's experience spans 32 years in the field of accident reconstruction and investigation.  Enz said, by his determination, the calculated speed of the Camaro was within a range of 75-80 mph at the time of impact.

Adams is on trial for two counts of aiding in reckless homicide, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and reckless driving. He is accused of driving a Toyota Supra on State Road 54 on May 9, 2009, and racing with Preston Williams who was driving a black Camaro with Jessica Allman on board.

For more, see gcdailyworld. 

Accident investigation expert Jason Kloese testified Thursday that Edward Cook was driving at least 49 mph in a 30 mph zone last year when he went off a residential street in Batavia,IL, killing a man and his dog.  Kloese estimated Cook's speed between 49.9 mph and 56.4 mph in the July 29, 2009, crash that killed 57-year-old David Long of Batavia and his black lab mix, Shadow. He said there were no signs of mechanical problems on the car Cook was driving, nor other circumstances that would have caused him to drive onto the sidewalk and hit Long.

Cook, who was on parole for a prior DUI conviction at the time of the crash, told police he "blanked out" at the wheel after a night of drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. He denied having stolen a 2003 white Acura from a friend's girlfriend earlier that morning.

For more, see dailyherald.com.

A Dickinson County District Court, KS, jury heard depositions by accident reconstruction experts last week in a case brought by an Enterprise man against the Abilene school district and one of its bus drivers.  In the civil action filed in 2008, Dennis Dean Gay is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 against the Abilene district and former bus driver Gary Liby.

In January 2008, the Kansas Highway Patrol reports a 2001 bus driven by Liby, who was then age 70, Abilene, was traveling north when it failed to stop at stop sign. The bus  collided with an eastbound 1989 Dodge truck driven by Gay, who was then age 52, of Enterprise.  In the court filing, Gay states that as a result of a January 2008 collision, he incurred severe injuries and is seeking damages to cover past and future medical bills, lost and future wages.

For more, see the abilenereflectorchronicle.com.

31-year-old Army veteran Seth Linaman has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and boating under the influence in the boating accident at Alcova Reservoir last spring.  Gary Boyd, boat accident reconstruction expert with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, testified Tuesday that that the four seats were occupied when the boat crashed into a canyon wall. 

Prosecutors claim however, that shortly before Seth Linaman's boat struck a Fremont Canyon wall on May 16, Linaman, standing beside the driver's seat, grabbed the vessel's steering wheel and throttled the boat into an oncoming wake.  Linaman faces more than 20 years behind bars if convicted of all counts.

For more, see trib.com.

A New Jersey trucker who caused an April 2008 crash on Woodford Mountain that took the lives of three people was sentenced Friday to serve six months in prison.  Kenneth Middlebusher, 44, appeared in Bennington District Courtand received a 1- to 10-year suspended sentence as part of a plea agreement. Middlebusher

MIddlebusher pleaded guilty on Oct. 27 to gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle with resulting fatality. Because it is a felony charge, Middlebusher will permanently lose his commercial license. He will also lose his privilege to drive a vehicle in Vermont for one year.  On April 16, 2008, Middlebusher was driving a truck loaded with 8,000 pound rolls of paper heading west on Route 9. Middlebusher lost control of the vehicle while heading down a steep hill and traveled into the opposite lane, where he collided with two other vehicles. 

Police said that drugs and alcohol were not factors. Expert witnesses were unable to determine how much of a role Middlebusher’s unsecured load played in the crash, police said. Accident reconstruction expert John Serth Jr.  was called by the defense and said that based on his investigation, he believes that Middlebusher applied his brakes, which caused him to skid.

For more, see benningtonbannner.com.

2½ years ago the Rhode Island’s child advocate sued the state alleging widespread abuse and neglect of the children in its care.  The child advocate’s office convened a panel of child safety experts to investigate and concluded that Department of Children, Youth and Family workers had missed or ignored several warning signs that might have prevented the beating death of a 3-year-old boy in an unlicensed foster home.

The DCYF revamped its licensing of foster homes, purchased fingerprinting equipment and conducted its own criminal background checks to reduce the time lag in evaluating prospective foster parents but child advocate Jametta O. Alston was frustrated with the pace of change at the agency and sued the state.  Last May, a federal court judge in Providence dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Alston and the other plaintiffs had no standing. Alston appealed to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which heard arguments earlier this month. Their decision is pending.

For more, see projo.com.