I call myself a Crash Scene Investigator.
Up to date pieces are found at the bottom of this page. They are grouped as Miscellaneous and as TheCarConnection, which is a site with much commentary. |
The conventional title for that activity is Accident Investigator. I never did like that word accident. Most car crashes are not an "event that happens unexpectedly, without a deliberate plan or cause". Nope, crashes happen because one or more people were dumb or careless.
That gives you an idea of why I am writing this BLOOK. You will see that I had an adventurous life, first designing experimental cars at the General Motors Tech Center, back when that was something to be proud of. Then, I worked with GM Legal Staff to defend the Corvair lawsuits but got kicked out for objecting to the shenanigans. Luckily, the people at Uniroyal Tire knew me and ignored the blacklist. Loved the job but not the Detroit race riots. Moved on to Buffalo, in western New York.
Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories (C.A.L.) was wonderful. I was in charge of the Test Track and designed, built and supervised the car-crash test facility. After running into trouble with an association with the Ralph Nader team, moved on to Consumers Union, publisher of CONSUMER REPORTS magazine. A super job of testing cars, crashes and child restraint devices. Writing about them as part of a great team was wonderful.
Maybe you would like to dive right in to read one or two of my best case studies before you explore the rest of the cases. Snow White is a long piece with a bit of everything. There is a description of the Court room drama and our CSI-type forensic investigation. Firestone Suckers is a shorter, fictional case that I could have easily handled, but for a probable conflict of interest. Otherwise, look at the Career and EDGR sections. |
Eventually, with all those credentials, I became an Expert Witness qualified to testify in litigation as a CxSI.
Click on the underlined headings below to see details.
What about the many facets of my working career that enabled me to be accepted as an expert witness on automobile safety? That is an important designation, granted by the judge, which permitted me to tell the jury my opinion based on the facts of the case. You'll see some exciting (to me anyway) stuff from my days at the General Motors Tech Center and working with the GM Legal Staff. Went to the Uniroyal Research and Development activity located on the shore of the Detroit River across from Belle Isle. Then my family moved to Buffalo and Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories. Next to Connecticut for Consumers Union, publisher of CONSUMER REPORTS magazine. Made a mistake leaving for more money, which ended quickly. Then I spent 22 more years working with lawyers.
Read about the investigation, analysis and testimony that I did on cases involving a serious automobile crash. My role was to tell why the injuries to the victims resulted from the collision, of course. The suit claimed that engineering malpractice made the car without currently available safety equipment.
EDGR – Engineering, Design, and Government Regulations
EDGR Engineering
To me, engineering of automobiles is the scientific part of creating them. It involves simple things like forces and moments; stress and strain, and more complicated things like handling and airflow dynamics.
EDGR Business
These things relate to my business. That even includes the work before I got involved in litigation.
“Design” is the name of the building that was called “Styling” when I worked at the GM Tech Center. It is mostly about aesthetics and comfort. However, there is a strong connection to interior safety issues.
“Government Regulations” is a world wide activity. Creating regulations for safety, emissions and economy is largely the basis for the Tort lawsuit industry. Failure to satisfy government regulations and consumer expectations is negligent, or worse.
Here are short stories; some that are related to engineering aspects of the business, others to lawyer type behavior and some are not even about the CxSI business at all.
Here are a few more pieces that do not relate to anything specific. More about TheCarConnection website.
Please use the hyperlinks to explore. Thank you.
Questions or complaints? Use the comment section just below.
Questions or complaints? Use the comment section just below.
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