So here goes...

First let's start with the ARC Network. Last year I contracted with a web development/programming company to help improve areas of the web site and make the ARC Network more of an accident reconstruction community portal. Working with a company that doesn't understand accident reconstruction and traffic investigation has taught me a great lesson in both patience and details! We have been working on this for just over a year and are finally getting things wrapped up.

This year we launched the new "Events Calendar" and "Accident Reconstruction News" sections. Both of these areas allow any user of the ARC Network (member or not) to submit either an event or news article to the web site. In addition, these new sections allow the end user to search our database that contains over 10 years of news articles by various criteria.

We also revamped the Vehicle Specs Database and Motorcycle Specs Database in the Member's only section.

By the end of next month we will (should) be launching the following new features:

• Photos Database: This will be an area in the ARC Network Member's section allowing members to upload photos and graphics to share with other members. The ARC Network will also upload hundreds of crash photos we have archived. The main goal of this section is to provide a database of photos and clip art that can be used by members of the ARC Network for PowerPoint presentations, brochures, web sites, etc.
  
  
• Video Database: This will be an area in the ARC Network Member's section allowing members to upload video clips to share with other members. The ARC Network will also upload many clips of crash tests we have archived. The main goal of this section is to provide a database of video clips that can be used by members of the ARC Network for research and analysis. 
  
  
• Library: This will be an area in the ARC Network Member's section allowing members to upload papers and articles to share with other members. The ARC Network will also upload all the of articles and papers we have collected over the years. The main goal of this section is to provide a database of articles that can be used by members of the ARC Network for research and analysis.
  
  
• Research Section: This will be a complete redesign of the current Research Section of the ARC Network. This section is free to use by members and non-members of the ARC Network. We will be taking all our current research and also updating the sections to provide an easier way to research certain topics relating to accident reconstruction, traffic safety and traffic accident investigation. This section will be open for anyone to submit any research they come across and contribute to the ARC Network.

The ARC Network has also created a channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/ARCNetwork). We are currently testing this method and have only added a few videos here, but intend to add a bunch more in the near future. There are so many different outlets to get information now like Twitter, Face Book, Linked In, Blogs, etc. the ARC Network wants to find the social networking medium that works the best for accident reconstruction. If you have any suggestions, please email them to me - arc@accidentreconstruction.com.
All of this is in addition to the continual updates made daily to the largest web site resource for accident reconstruction. My hopes are that the users of the ARC Network will embrace these new features and help contribute to making the ARC Network even better!
In other happenings... 

CDR User's Summit & CDR Train the Trainer Course
Registration is now open for the next CDR User's Summit. The date for this training summit is January 25-27, 2010 in Houston, TX. Immediately following the CDR Summit will be the annual CDR Train the Trainer Course offered by Collision Safety Institute. We have a great line up of speakers this year and lots of information to distribute over the 3 days. Since the last conference, Bosch has released software version 3.2 and 3.3, a hardware cable release that includes a GM ROS (Roll Over Sensor) cable, 2 GM ACM Cables and a new Chrysler cable. Bosch is currently working on the CDR Version 3.4 release that may also include new cables!

As more and more Reconstructionists are getting involved in CDR and more and more attorneys are requesting CDR reports from their experts, the CDR User's Summit is a great venue to stay informed with CDR.

This year's CDR User's Summit will include a presentation from an accident reconstructionist that works for a [very] large insurance company. He has been downloading CDR data from vehicles that have been involved in a paid claim. His plan is to put together a study to see how the CDR data would have affected the claim. This could open the door to a new market within CDR for experts and insurance companies... 

ARC-CSI Crash Conference
In June, we hosted the 8th annual ARC-CSI Crash Conference. Attendance was close to 200 and we performed 11 crash tests. Of the cars we crashed 3 of them were 2009 Chrysler vehicles - brand new, straight from Detroit! We have begun the planning stages for next year's ARC-CSI Crash Conference and have already booked the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for crash day and the Palace Station for the hotel venue.

The date for next year's ARC-CSI Crash Conference is May 24-27, 2010. We typically host the event in June, but we were able to secure some earlier dates that [should] provide for a little cooler weather.

Collision Magazine
In July, the subscribers of Collision Magazine received Volume 4, Issue 1 which marked the fourth year of Collision Magazine. This issue contains some great articles - Photo Rectification, ACM Reprogramming, CDR Evidence FAQs, Alcohol and Vehicle Collisions, Forensic Photography, Signal Processing Applied to Vehicle Speed Measurement and Recording plus many other articles. This issue also includes the 2009 CDR User's Conference CD. Back Issues are available in limited quantity.

In August, we began laying out the next Issue of Collision Magazine - Volume 4, Issue 2. This issue will begin shipping late November 2009. This issue contains the 2009 ARC-CSI data DVD which includes speaker PowerPoint presentations, over 575 high resolution digital photos, over 40 video clips in multiple sizes and formats, instrumentation data, drawing files (.dwg and .dxf), related computer programs and other related documents and files. Some of the articles you will find in the next issue include "Estimation of Veh. Speed and Trajectory Based on Video from a Veh. Mounted Camera", "What is 30?",  "Linked Brakes and Their Performance", "Braking Efficiencies of Motorcycles by Experienced Riders in Hard Braking Situations", "Testing the Last Stop Record in the Mercedes MBE 4000", "Automobile Extrication for the Reconstructionist", plus many other articles. If you are not a current subscriber, you can subscribe online at www.collisionpublishing.com. 

Crash Data Group - CDR
In July, we released CSV Pro 2009. This version was a complete revision from CSV Pro 2008 as it added CSV support for Chrysler CSV files. If you use the Bosch CDR software, you should really check out this program. It was developed by Greg Russell and Collision Safety Institute and is a huge time saver in evaluating CDR file information and putting all the data into graphical format. All of the information on CSV Pro 2009 is available on the web site.

In July and August, Bosch released a pre-sale of the CDR Version 3.3 hardware cable kit. For the first time ever, Bosch announced the pre-sale with a $100 discount promotion. Needless to say, this release was an instant hit. We have shipped over 500 3.3 cable kits and are still on back order. It seems production can't keep up with the demand. Bosch is currently working on the CDR version 3.4 release.