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MSC News 2007-2008:november 2008 Transportation Lawyers Association: Transportation Law Institute On November 14th, Bill Messerschmidt was an invited speaker at the 2008 Transportation Law Institute, held in New Orleans, LA. Along with attorney Arthur D. Spratlin and Mr. Tim Corbitt, Bill gave a presentation on Event Data Recorders (“black boxes”) in heavy trucks and commercial motor vehicles. HOME octber 2008 Motor Carrier Compliance and Accident Reconstruction Education On October 29th, Tommy Waters gave a presentation to the Alabama Rural Electric Association in Montgomery, Alabama. Tommy spoke on recent changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which have a direct impact on local businesses, especially those formerly classified exclusively as intra-state carriers. During the week of 13 – 17 October, Bill Messerschmidt served as lead instructor for D.C.-based Accident Analysis and Reconstruction’s first Heavy Vehicle Accident Reconstruction class. Twenty-one active Law Enforcement officers from the mid-Atlantic states were in attendance and completed the class. Bill wrote the curriculum and training materials, along with Michael Yosko and Greg Russell. The class topics included basic motor carrier regulations, in-depth study of S-cam braking efficiency equations, rollovers, avoidance maneuvers, front-rear accidents, and ECM data. The class culminated with instrumented skid testing of tractors, tractor-trailer combinations, and two staged crashes between a commercial vehicle and passenger car. In addition, ECM downloads were obtained after several of the tests. HOME October 2008 MSC Welcomes Ronnie E. Demonia to the Birmingham Office MSC welcomes Ronnie E. Demonia to the full-time staff of the Birmingham office. Ronnie has 12 years of experience in trucking safety, and he served for nine years as an Alabama State Trooper, assigned to accident and traffic homicide investigations. Ronnie will be performing accident investigation, HV EDR data recovery, and Motor Carrier Compliance duties. HOME September 2008 MSC Expands to the Wiregrass MSC announces the opening of our new Dothan, Alabama office. Managed by Thomas H. Waters, CSS, the Dothan office will focus on providing Motor Carrier Compliance services in the Wiregrass area and across the Southeast. Prior to joining MSC, Mr. Waters worked as Fleet Safety Manager, and he served the Alabama State Troopers as a Sergeant in Motor Carrier Safety. HOME june 2008 South Carolina Accident Reconstruction Society During July 2008, Bill Messerschmidt was an invited speaker at the Joint Conference of the South Carolina Accident Reconstruction Society (SCARS), National Association of Professional Accident Reconstructionists (NAPARS), the Southeast Accident Reconstruction Society (SeARS) and the International Association of Accident Reconstruction Specialists (IAARS). Bill discussed the use of heavy truck ECM data in accident reconstruction, and he presented original research on that topic. The conference was held at the Sheraton Gateway hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. may 2008 Seminar Presentations During May 2008, Bill Messerschmidt spoke at two seminars focused on the legal and insurance industries. On May 16th, Bill spoke on heavy truck EDRs and accident reconstruction, as the guest of attorney Shea Moore at the Mississippi College of Law. On May 29th, Bill presented information on heavy truck EDRs, as the guest of attorney Arthur D. Spratlin, Jr at the Jackson, MS Hilton. This seminar was sponsored by Lorman Educational Services. On June 20th, Bill spoke at a Lorman seminar in Albuquerque, NM, on the subject of human factors in traffic accident reconstruction. Bill spoke in conjunction with Mr. Jeff Vick, who addressed accident avoidance and contributing circumstances in crashes. Mr. Messerschmidt and the entire staff of MSC would like to thank Mr. Moore, Mr. Spratlin, and Mr. Vick for facilitating these opportunities to assist the legal, insurance, and transportation industries. April 2008 MSC Moves to a New Office On 1 April 2008, MSC moved into a new office located near the intersection of Valleydale Road and US Highway 31 in Pelham, Alabama. We expect this central location to improve the overall efficiency of our operation and help us continue to provide ALL our clients with the most timely and effective service possible. Current MSC clients should expect to receive a mailing with our new office phone and fax numbers. All of us at MSC thank our clients, vendors, and friends for the support you have given us and the confidence you have placed in us over the last two years. Our growth would not be possible without you! HOME april 2008 CONGRATULATIONS MSC congratulates Roy Liddell of Wells, Marble, and Hurst for his successful defense of Mr. Melvin Ervin and The Merchants Company in Hinds County (MS) Circuit Court. Bill Messerschmidt of MSC was one of two witnesses called by the defense and testified to his reconstruction of the crash and Mr. Ervin's ability to perceive the hazard created by a stopped motor vehicle. After hearing two days of testimony, the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Mr. Ervin and The Merchants Company. HOME JANUARY 2008 2007 In Review During 2007, the staff and caseload of MSC increased steadily. It has been our privilege to work for some of the best attorneys, trucking companies, and insurance carriers in the nation. During 2007 MSC added Jason Crook and Jonathan Ley as part-time contract assistants. Both have over 10 years of police experience, advanced accident investigation training, and have bachelor's degrees from Troy University and Auburn University. Jason and Jon joined Tim Joiner in the capacity of field assistants. In addition to serving clients in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, during 2007 MSC was retained and handled cases in New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York. HOME DECEMBER 2007 Heavy Truck Accident Reconstruction Class In December of 2007, Washington, D. C. based Accident Analysis and Reconstruction contracted MSC to write and teach a Heavy Truck Accident Reconstruction class. The class will be co-authored with Michael R. Yosko of Yosko consulting, and it will include human factors, event data recorders, concepts of mathematical modeling applied to heavy truck accident reconstruction, and proper investigative techniques. The course is tentatively scheduled to be taught in Prince William County, Virginia in October 2008. HOMEOCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2007 Heavy Vehicle EDR Webpage Launched During the first week of November, MSC announced the launch of the first website dedicated to informing the transportation community about heavy vehicle event data recoders (HV EDRs). This September 2007 Alabama Chapter, National Safety Council's Fleet Safety and Compliance Seminar MSC consultants attended the Birmingham, Alabama Chapter of the National Safety Council's Fleet Safety and Compliance Seminar. Bill Messerschmidt and Jason Crook attended the conference, which was held in Pelham, Alabama and covered topics such as vehicle equipment and maintenance, OSHA compliance, and safety belt policies for fleet operators. HOME August 2007 Canadian Association of Technical Accident Investigators and Reconstructionists (CATAIR) Bill Messerschmidt joined Jeff Muttart, Greg Vandenburg, and Michael Yosko to perform driver response research at the Ontario Police College in London, Ontario. The trip and the research were funded by CATAIR. Some of the topics studied include response inertia, response complexity, and perceptual tropism. After a week of testing and data analysis, Muttart, Messerschmidt, Yosko, and Vandenburg presented the results on the final day of CATAIR's 2007 Annual General Meeting. HOME JULY 2007 Event Data Recorder Training Bill Messerschmidt provided training on heavy vehicle Event Data Recorders to a police accident reconstruction class at Hinds Community College in Mississippi. At the invitation of ASI Investigations, Messerschmidt had the privilege of addressing approximately 20 active Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers on the subject of EDRs in commercial and heavy trucks. After a four-hour classroom presentation, the Officers accompanied Messerschmidt and Mr. Ben Smith of ASI into the field to observe the direct-to-module download of a Cummins engine on an accident vehicle. HOME JUne 2007 Event Data Recorder Conference Presentation Bill Messerschmidt was honored to be one of the presenters at the National Association of Legal Investigators' 40th Annual Conference, which took place at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Messerschmidt gave a presentation that was followed by a question-and-answer session on the data contained in commercial vehicle Event Data Recorders, often referred to as the "black box." HOME |
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