Robert J. Nobilini, Ph.D. ::::

Case Synopsis:  A man alleged that while he was attempting to deposit trash in a dumpster, located in a dark alleyway behind a restaurant, he unexpectedly stepped into and fell to the bottom of an open shaft.  The man claimed that a section of metal grating had been removed from the opening.  However, there was no reasonable explanation for why the grating would have been removed, and there was also circumstantial evidence that the man was attempting to enter the restaurant through the shaft.

Steven M. Schorr, PE ::::

You are presented with an intersectional collision case and you determine that someone’s sight line was blocked, so you hire an investigator to run out to the scene and take photographs.  You hoped that these photographs sufficiently represented the views of the drivers such that your expert could scientifically substantiate sight distance opinions.  You relied on these two-dimensional photographs being taken at the proper eye height and at the proper location on the roadway such that they could be placed in evidence at court.  However, often times, these photographs do not sufficiently depict everything necessary to “make” your case.  What is the easy answer to this all too common problem?

R. Scott King, BSME ::::

Federal regulations require the placement of weight limitation labels on all motor vehicles.  Most often, these labels express the weight value in terms of the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR).  Some vehicles particularly motor coaches and recreational vehicles, provide additional limiting values such as Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC), Sleeping Capacity, and Towing Capacity.  The subtraction of these additional values from the GVWR provide owners and users an indication of cargo weight they can carry and help ensure that user loading does not exceed the vehicle’s safe load limit.  Common sense standards of utility and suitability of use require that a vehicle’s GVWR be greater than it’s unloaded, unfueled, and unoccupied weight.  After all, what good is a vehicle that leaves the factory assembly line already at its maximum GVWR?  But that’s what happened to the purchasers of over 50 luxury motor homes.

Curt M. Beloy, P.E. ::::

Case Synopsis: A head-on collision occurred between a motorcyclist and a minivan.  DJS Associates collected data at the site (including tire marks, scrapes and roadway geometry) and from the vehicles, as well as performed a reconstruction of the collision based on the physical evidence and available data.  The physical evidence defined that the motorcyclist had crossed the centerline and was within the oncoming travel lane at the time of the collision.

Tomas Cocchiola, PE, CSP ::::

Case Synopsis:  A janitor in a high rise apartment building was injured while cleaning a trash compactor room.  He tripped on a hydraulic hose while walking alongside the compactor and fell on his extended arm. The compactor was cycling at the time.  The man's arm accidentally entered an unguarded opening and was crushed in a pinch point formed as the compactor ram retracted and moved past the opening.

Hugh B. Borbidge, BSME ::::

Police officers gathered in front of a home where they were going to attempt to serve an arrest warrant to two individuals residing there. The team was comprised of 12 members. The team leader rang the doorbell and knocked on the front door.  There was no response.  After a few seconds a voice inside the house asked "who's at my door?"  Again, the team leader knocked and now identified himself as a police detective.  He could see the person inside the house start to run towards the back of the house.  The team leader immediately ordered another officer to use the battering ram to gain entrance to the home.  The door opened, the team leader entered the home and was shot.

R. Scott King, BSME ::::

Overview: By now it’s no secret that many motor vehicles are equipped with on-board event data recorders [EDR].  Capable of capturing data such as vehicle speed, brake and throttle application, and sometimes much more, such devices have been providing investigators and engineers with crash and other event data for over ten years.  More recently, however, investigators have discovered another potential source of electronic data, the portable Global Positioning System [GPS] device that so many of us have and rely upon in our vehicles.

By Dr. Tom Griffiths ::::

For the past quarter century, high diving boards (3-meters; ten feet) have been disappearing from public and private swimming pools across the country.  This swimming pool staple which so many middle aged and older Americans learned to love while they were children, is no longer available for their children and grand children.

Statistics indicate that springboard diving is a very safe sport.  That is because NCAA, USA diving and many other water safety agencies have safety training programs for their coaches and follow strict depth and distance requirements to provide safe “diving envelopes” in the water for divers/jumpers.  So what’s the problem?

Far too many three-meter (high dives) were placed in recreational settings without the assistance of qualified coaches and springboard diving agencies.  As a result, numerous falls to unprotected concrete decks below have occurred around the country resulting in death or paralysis. Hence, high dives are quickly becoming dinosaurs.

Thomas Cocchiola, PE, CSP ::::

Case Synopsis:  A woman was injured while inflating a tire on a four-wheel utility wagon.  Her husband used an air compressor to inflate two tires before she volunteered to inflate the other two.  Unfortunately, the rim failed catastrophically when she placed the air chuck onto the valve and began to inflate the tire.  A piece of the rim struck and injured her.

Robert J. Nobilini, PH.D. ::::

Case Synopsis:  A man was injured when he fell through a guardrail at his residence.  The house was constructed with an exterior doorway in the second story kitchen. The guardrail was mounted across the outside of the doorway.  The man opened the door and was leaning over the guardrail, emptying debris out of a suitcase when the guardrail gave way and the man fell to the ground below.