WATAI MAY MEETING

WATAI is putting together a great lineup for our Spring Conference which will be held at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center on May 8, 2002. Along with our regulur membership meeting we will have presentations on Crash Data Recorders by Rusty Haight, Crash Course on Kinematics by Rob Kaufman, and Truck Stability Testing by the Washington State Patrol Major Accident Investigation Team.

President's Message

WATAI held a successful meeting last October. A long day and night of testing generated a lot of results. The raw results are available from the announcements section of this web site. Jeff Muttart is also busy digesting the data and plans to publish technical papers based on the work. Anyone with time and interest in writing these papers with Jeff should contact him directly.

Many people contributed to the success of the seminar. Most importantly, I would like to extend the sincere thanks of our Board and members to Jeff Muttart, David King, and Cara Johnston for sharing their expertise with us. In addition, the patience and support of the volunteer test subjects was much appreciated. And finally, I wish to thank everyone who worked that day and in the planning stages.

Planning is complete for the May meeting. A full day is planned for May 8th at the Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien, so make sure you arrive on time. Rob Kaufman will give a presentation on occupant kinematics and injury mechanics. Troy Orf, Greg Wilcoxson and Dave Temple of the Washington State Patrol Major Accident Investigation Team will discuss some truck stability testing they participated in. Our last speaker, Rusty Haight, will discuss crash data recorders.

On the two days following our regular seminar, WATAI is pleased to co-sponsor with Rusty Haight and his Collision Safety Institute an operator's certification course for the Vetronix Crash Data Recorder system. Even if you do not own the hardware, the training would be valuable so you are knowledgeable in what data is available and when and how it should be used.

As is WATAI's practice, our regular meeting is free to members. Rusty's two-day CDR class is $250. Attendance is limited, so please sign up early.

Planning is also well under way for the fall meeting scheduled for October 9-10, 2002. Jerry Eubanks has agreed to coordinate pedestrian and bicycle impact tests. Unlike last October, we will not need volunteer test subjects, but please plan to attend and observe!
I invite you to contact me with suggestions, complaints, or feedback of any kind. I can be reached at moebes@arsoftware.com or by phone at 425-861-4666.

Regards,
Tim Moebes
WATAI President