On this September episode of the Girvin & Ferlazzo Law Show, hosts Daniel Rubin and Kaitlyn Schwendeman focus on the area of auto accidents with a special guest to the show while also taking calls from listeners. They also celebrate the arrival of a new baby to the law office family and the creation of the new theme song for the show! The weekly radio show airs every Saturday on Talk 1300 AM at 10:00 a.m. and can now be found on 98.7 FM, as well. This week’s call-in legal show will focus on accident reconstruction plus a call-in question about security deposits.
Listen to the episode here:
A Look at Accident Reconstruction and Personal Injuries
Special Guest Richard Hermance Weighs In On Auto Accidents
Special guest Richard Hermance, founder of Collison Research, Ltd. He’s been doing accident reconstruction for over 30 years and testified in cases across the United States and Canada. He teaches accident reconstruction for the University of Florida, the State of New York, the United States Forest Service and more. He has experience in motorcycle, ATV, cars, trucks, as well as fire and explosion reconstruction and highway design. Mr. Hermance and his team work on site to measure vehicles and accident sites and then use physics to uncover what actually happened. They’ll help determine factors such as where the accident occurred, whether highway design was to blame, and if the safety equipment in the vehicle failed to work properly.
Accidents aren’t really about how fast you were going, they are about how fast you changed speed. The rate of speed change is measured with the designation delta-v; this is a common scale used to discuss the severity of a car accident and a scientific way to talk about the change in speed. The faster the vehicle loses speed, the more severe the crash. For instance, in NASCAR, the cars might be going 180 miles per hour when they crash, but as they bounce off of the wall, spin around, or roll over, they are gradually losing speed. That helps drivers walk away from the accident. When a vehicle goes from 60 miles per hour to zero in milliseconds, it’s a much more severe accident.
Daniel and Mr. Hermance discuss a case that they recently worked on together where a car went off of the road and struck a tree, resulting in a fatality. The goal was to recreate the accident to see whether or not the airbag malfunctioned. Mr. Hermance found that even if the airbag had gone off, it wouldn’t have protected the person from the injuries. Airbags are designed to protect a person in an accident with a delta-v of less than 35. Accidents over 35 delta-v result in inertial injuries to the body; a common type of this injury would be an injury to the brain as it’s moved around inside the head and hits the bones of the skull. Even when everything in the car works the way it was designed to in order to prevent injuries, these inertial injuries can result in life-changing injuries and even death.
What happens when accident reconstruction teams arrive on the scene?
One of the first things Mr. Hermance and his team look for when they arrive is gouge marks on the road; this can be an indication of where the vehicles hit. Next, they’ll look for debris scatter, tire marks, skid marks, and other indicators in order to determine where the vehicles hit and where they came to rest. The distance and angles of those two locations can tell his team a lot about what happened at the scene.
What happens if they can’t get on the scene right away?
If the team is called in after an accident has already been cleaned up, they rely on police reports. The most important part of documentation from the police are the photographs they took. They can take those photographs and recreate it in 3-D, using photogrammetry, and do things like measuring the length of skid marks and grid out the picture to get all the measurements they need.
What are some of the other data you can get from a vehicle?
One of the first things the team will look at in a vehicle is whether the occupant compartment was compromised. The whole vehicle is designed to protect passengers in crashes under 35 delta-v by crumpling and taking on the impact of the crash. The front of the vehicle acts like a giant airbag for the rest of the vehicle. This reduces the g-force on your body. If the occupant compartment is crushed, that tells the team that seatbelts and airbags might not have helped in the crash.
How do they use test vehicles to measure skid marks?
Bob from Albany calls in to ask a question about accident reconstruction. He is interested in learning more about how they use test vehicles to compare measurements that they take on the scene of skid marks. Mr. Hermance says that when it comes to a skid mark, they want to know about the friction on the roadway. He said that there are charts in existence that tell them about various roadway conditions and how they impact the force of gravity on the vehicle. Even better than using the charts, though, is taking a test vehicle out on the road and doing a skid test themselves. Sometimes they’ll use a special piece of computer equipment that attaches that to a car to measure the deceleration. The computer tracks the speed and then as soon as the brakes are applied, the computer tells them how fast they were going and how long it took the vehicle to stop in order to calculate the friction on the road.
Why would a jury be cautioned to avoid examining an accident area themselves?
Linda calls in to discuss a case about a car and truck accident where she served on the jury. They had been cautioned not to go out and look at the accident location and she wondered why that might be. Daniel says that generally speaking when it comes to presenting a case in court, there are all sorts of decisions that are made by the judge and lawyers before the case comes to trial. A lot of that has to do with how the evidence is presented because each side has a different view on what’s relevant. What they are trying to prevent are jurors going out and looking at the scene and making an assessment before they’ve seen all of the evidence. They want you to hear the experts before you make a conclusion.
How long should you wait for repairs on a recalled airbag?
Joe from Troy calls in with a question about air bags. Joe says that he received a notice about a safety recall on his airbags back in March, but nothing has been done about it since then. The recall involved the passenger-side airbag, where shrapnel could come out of the airbag and hit the passenger in the face. Joe had been told just to disconnect the inflator, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing that and felt it wasn’t right. He wants to know how long he might have to wait for repairs since there are apparently millions of people waiting. Daniel says that his understanding is that it’s such a big problem that the manufacturer can’t keep up with it. Kaitlyn says she believes the manufacturer already went into bankruptcy over the issue. Joe’s only option may be to go to his dealer and see if there is anything they can do for him.
What kind of crash data is gathered by the car itself?
Daniel asked Mr. Hermance about crash data recorders in vehicles and what kind of information they gather. He says that the recorders have been around for about 20 years now and record all different sorts of information. They are generally hooked up to the airbag control module because as you are driving, the airbag is constantly working to sense a crash. When the airbag senses a crash, the computers and senses work together and decide whether or not to deploy the airbag. The whole operation happens in less than 150 milliseconds. Once the car has determined that a crash is happening, the data of the crash starts to record. From about five seconds before the crash, most recorders get the speed, the position of the brake switch and seatbelt buckle, and percentage of throttle. Some newer vehicles even record roll rates, traction control, and more.
Call In Questions About Real Estate Law
Can a landlord keep a deposit if you don’t take the apartment?
Mike calls in from Guilderland to ask a question about being a landlord. Mike is a landlord who had a potential tenant who secured an apartment with a check, then 12 days later they came back and said they didn’t want the apartment. He wondered if he was obligated to give them their security deposit back. Kaitlyn advises Mike that it will depend on what the agreement. Mike said there was no written agreement, but the potential tenant had signed a receipt to hold the apartment. Daniel clarifies that a security deposit should be kept in escrow and used only to repair any damages done to the apartment; a deposit or a down payment on an apartment is different. A deposit can be kept. However, the issue for Mike will be the fact that there wasn’t a signed lease agreement yet, so he’ll need to determine whether or not it’s worth the fight to keep the money. Kaitlyn also says that if Mike were to keep the money, the potential renter could take him to small claims court, where a judge will determine whether or not it is equitable for Mike to keep the money. That decision will likely depend on whether or not Mike was able to re-let the apartment immediately. Mike said he was not able to re-rent the apartment immediately and lost two months of rent over the deal. Daniel says in that case, there is an argument to be made that Mike should be able to keep the funds as damages. However, Daniel cautions Mike that he should have a written lease in the future to protect himself and have renters mark on the check that it is a non-refundable deposit and the first month’s rent. That will make it clear to all parties involved that the money won’t be coming back to them if they back out on the lease.
What is Denial of Rights Under Color of Law?
Jack calls in to ask about a phrase he’d recently heard, “denial of rights under color of law,” and asks if Daniel can explain it. Daniel says that under federal law, a person acting under civil law can be guilty of violating your constitutional rights. This can take different forms; for instance, a police officer can be acting under state law, but if they apply an excessive force that could be a violation of your 4th or 8th amendment rights. It applies to all citizens.
About Girvin & Ferlazzo, PC
Girvin & Ferlazzo, PC, is a full-service law firm in Albany, NY, who has been live on the air with the Girvin & Ferlazzo Radio Show since 2001. The team focuses on a wide variety of legal areas, including education law, real estate law, personal injury cases, and more. You don’t have to wait for the next call-in radio show to get advice! The law firm is offering free consultations for personal injury cases. Simply call the offices of Girvin & Ferlazzo and ask for a free consultation with an attorney who handles cases like yours. We would love to hear your story and help you take the next steps with your case. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
