18 May 2012

Messerschmidt and Austin to Present at the 2012 ARC-CSI Crash Conference







Kelly Messerschmidt
Technical Communications Manager
MSC

Bill Messerschmidt of MSC, and Tim Austin of the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy will give a presentation on “Using ECM Diagnostic Data in Crash Reconstruction” at the 2012 ARC-CSI Crash Conference, which will take place June 4-7, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Messerschmidt and Austin’s presentation explores the presence of important, volatile fault data in heavy vehicle Engine Control Modules (ECMs) that are oftentimes ignored, inadvertently erased, or overwritten during the ECM data imaging process.

They will discuss how and when diagnostic records are written, how they can be useful in collision investigations, as well as how the data can be preserved correctly. Messerschmidt and Austin will describe data imaging methods, such as the use of surrogate vehicles and devices like the “Truck in a Box.”

The ARC-CSI Crash Conference takes place annually and—as they have done for the past 10 years—the ARC-CSI Crash Team will conduct multiple, fully instrumented live crash tests of vehicles in real world crash scenarios. Learn more about the crash tests.

The two days that follow crash test day are comprised of technical presentations given by experts from around the world on topics relevant to investigating and reconstructing vehicle collisions. Learn more about the topics and speakers for the 2012 ARC-CSI Crash Conference.

Register to attend this year’s conference.

11 May 2012

AL Governor Bentley Signs Law to Prohibit Texting While Driving


Kevin Jones
Technical Analyst
MSC

On Tuesday, 08 May 2012, Alabama governor Robert Bentley signed a bill that outlaws texting while driving. The law goes into effect on 01 August 2012. The law doesn’t prohibit dialing a phone; however, it does ban texting, instant messaging, and sending emails while operating an automobile.

Alabama is the 38th state to make texting while driving illegal. Under the new law, if a person is ticketed for a texting-while-driving offense, he or she could be fined up to $75 and receive violations on his or her driving record. Gov. Bentley compared the new law to Alabama’s seatbelt law, which is also a measure to prevent fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.

Read a news article about Alabama’s new law banning texting while driving.