Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 Carolyne Thorne; the families of Jackie and Raechel Houck and Levi Stewart – these were not among the stakeholders interviewed by Government Accounting Office investigators in compiling their latest report on problems with automotive recalls. Yet, they are arguably among the many who are [...]
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 In August, Toyota Motor Corporation recalled 1.2 million Corolla, Corolla Matrix, and Pontiac Vibe vehicles for improperly manufactured Engine Control Modules. The problem? Cracks at solder points or on varistors on the circuit board that could cause harsh shifting, or a car that won’t [...]
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 Exponent, a research firm supporting the automobile industry in litigation, has been collecting data to build a database of available injury mitigation technologies by vehicle make, model and year. The Menlo Park, CA firm presented surprising research at last month’s Enhanced Safety of Vehicles [...]
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 Earlier this month, a Georgia man died at the bottom of a water slide at a popular Atlanta-area attraction. Sergio Edwards, 21, reportedly a strong swimmer, was found unconscious at the bottom of Lake Lanier Islands Resort’s Fun Dunker. The police officials called his [...]
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 Revisiting an old and contentious issue with contemporary data, researchers from Garthe and Associates compared the real world effectiveness of seats with Integrated Restraints (IR) to standard seats, and found that standard seats without integrated restraints have increased failure and deformation rates, as well [...]
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland opened the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Conference several weeks ago on a skeptical note about Google Inc.’s fleet of automated Toyota Priuses. “More people feel that the task of driving belongs to the driver,” Strickland said. “And [...]
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2011 FMVSS 213 Child Restraint Systems is an inadequate standard with a compliance test that bears no resemblance to what happens to children in a crash, according to a slew of child safety researchers at this year’s Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Conference. Some of the [...]