When scientists have a Christmas party

Yet again

Night work

I85 nb backed up 20 miles. Check exif gps.

My escape capsule

Clanton Advertiser | Jury: Train company not at fault for fatal accident

Clanton Advertiser | Jury: Train company not at fault for fatal accident

Traction control got me (stuck - almost)

New toy

Our newest technician

Might be time to stop for gas.

How am I supposed to take my laptop home, windows?

Truck silly band

Going to be one of those days.....

More from the road

Prettying up I-20 for Talladega week

Dega bound on 285

TALLADEGA

Altamont School Field Trip

Vear and Vista hosted the Altamont School's 6th grade science class. We froze racket balls in liquid nitrogen, looked at bugs with the scanning electron microscope, talked about tin whiskers, and finished off with a deployment of an airbag. We place the bag face up, and put a stuffed Elmo doll on the bag. Elmo went about 50 feet in the air and landed in a tree! We had to get him down with one of our flagpoles used for taking overhead pictures of cars.


Fast forward to 2:08. This was shot at 600 frames per second (I think).

Gary Johnson

Shots from the road

This guy should train dogs for a living.

Note the "dreamsickle" headliner.
Languishing in a tow yard. Needs a good home. Wish I had the time and $$$.

Gary Johnson

31 gallon tank

Major Sadness

That was a fun but loud looking boat. Looked like the trailer and truck parted company, and then the trailer and boat parted company.

Gary Johnson

Picture 2 of the bull

This guy wants to know what I'm doing

Large, Busy Crash Sites

We've just added another nasty, busy intersection to the list of mapped crash sites so I thought I'd show some of the "fun" ones we've done over the years. Every one of these was done without traffic control from police and without diverting traffic in any way.

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This is 231 South and Ross Clark Circle in Dothan, Alabama. Not the busiest in the world, but it's relative, and the busiest in Dothan.

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Here's I-10 at Theodore Dawes in Mobile, Alabama

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Here's I-10 at Higgins Road in Mobile. A tanker turned over on the offramp. We mapped the ramp and back up the interstate for a mile so we could compare the black box data to where the driver was approaching the offramp.

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This is one of my prouder ones. We mapped all 3 levels of this monster. I-65 and I-85 in Montgomery, Alabama.

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This was one of my first. I-459 at I-65 in Birmingham, Alabama. A car hit an 18 wheeler loaded with phosphorous mortar rounds head on. The car caught fire but the truck did not. They still evacuated most of Hoover.

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I-565 at I-65 in Huntsville, Alabama. We worked a wreck on the flyover. Not really hard, but nowhere to hide.

Gary Johnson

Flying to a Crash Site in the Bonanza

Nice self portrait, huh? Dr. Talbot and I flew his Bonanza to a crash site this week. That 200 knot ground speed was nice. We had 2 hours of flying time when it would have been nearly 8 hours of driving.

Gary Johnson

Doesn't Everyone Have a 1969 Harley Davidson Sportster in Their Conference Room?

Check Out Vista's New Site:

Click on the picture to go to the site.
Gary Johnson

I don't know why. But my tmobile blackberry would not do this.

SMS blog test. The other one did not include my sig. Gary

Testing mobile posting

Exotic Cars

Yesterday, I was at the nicest body shop that I have ever been inside. The whole shop was air conditioned and had a suspended tile ceiling (even above the lifts!!!). Nothing in there but Porsches, Mercedes and this was in their office:

Don't ask me why, but here is the EXIF data from the GT picture. I keep calling it a Gt-40, technically that is incorrect; it's a Ford GT.

They also had one of these (sorry, stock picture). 2006 MB CL 65 V-12 Biturbo. 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds.

War Eagle! It's Friday

Today's Friday, and I usually wear orange and blue on Friday. But, today we are going to Tuscaloosa to look at a wrecked car and the attorney who is aware of my ritual has told me not to even think about it. So I'll be sporting one of our new Vear logo'ed golf shirts. Here's the "sew out."


Otherwise, I'd be wearing something from here. Gotta go take some Benadryl to suppress my immune system and head that way.

Gary Johnson

Bench downloading modules

We can download electronic control modules (ECMs) from cars and heavy trucks. Pictured is a Detroit Diesel ECM from a Peterbilt that was FedExed to us. Our turnaround time is usually less than one day. This one was received about 3pm, and was back in FedEx's hands by 5pm the same day. This was really important since this belongs to a one truck operation. We charge a fixed rate that includes the express, overnight shipping (which, in this case was $56). Our rate is less than 1/4 of what Mack charges to download Mack ECMs (they won't sell their equipment), and last time I sent one to them for a client, the turnaround was 6 weeks. We also have the equipment for Caterpillar, Mercedes, Cummins, and Volvo engines. The data recovered depends on the manufacturer, but Detroits can record about 2 minutes of data surrounding an event.


Here is a bench download of a passenger car airbag control module (the silver box). In most cars, this is where crash data is recorded. Here is a link to Bosch's site that lists the covered cars.

Gary Johnson

Company Milestone

Sorry, no picture. Today, Dr. Thompson and I both had depositions at the same time on different cases. That is the first time this has happened in my 10+ years of accident reconstruction and testimony. We have had depositions one after another on the same case in the past, but not simultaneous ones on different cases. Business is good, thankfully.
Gary Johnson

More Pedigree: Alan Shepard, Clifton "C.C." Williams, and my dad

This letter from Alan Shepard to my father (Lt. Col. Joe R. Johnson, USAF Ret.) is framed and hanging in my office. It is referring to the October 1967 T-38 crash near Tallahassee, FL that killed astronaut Clifton "C.C." Williams. My father was the flight safety officer at Moody Air Force Base in nearby Valdosta, GA. He was the Air Force liaison to NASA and was in charge of the site excavation and careful removal of the remains of the aircraft from what he refers to as, "the crater." The crater was about 15 feet deep and 25 - 30 feet across. Williams and the ejection seat had just separated from the aircraft when they both struck the ground at about 600 miles per hour.

Gary Johnson

Sunset in Sandestin

This is sunset at the ninth hole of the Links Course. Pardon the image, it was taken with my Blackberry. Vear and Vista Engineering are simultaneously attending the Alabama Association for Justice and Alabama Defense Lawyers Association's annual meetings at Sandestin. PS, the heat index today was about 110 degrees (F).

Gary Johnson

Katie Dunn

Katie Dunn

August 14, 1997 - May 30,2009

Sometimes all these crashes get a little close to home. Last Saturday, Katie and her mother Millie were killed in a crash on I-65 north of Birmingham. Katie cheered with my daughter last year at ACE Allstars. Here are some links to the crash information and blogs:

AL.com
ABC 33/40
Obituary

Gary Johnson

First day of ARC CSI 2009

Click to enlarge. After a LONG day of crash testing, we are back to assimilate the data. This Cherokee is remotely controlled. Most of the others were driven by Rusty Haight.

A partial lineup of "the victims." Thanks to the ARC Network.

Click here for a Google Earth kml file of the location. Click "Open With" and "Browse" and select Google Earth. You must have Google Earth installed.

Gary Johnson

Welcome Summer Interns

We wish a belated welcome to the summer interns: Claire Hart and William Cutchen.

Claire, a native of Birmingham, is currently in her first year as an MBA student at UAB. She received her undergraduate degree in Communication Studies from Huntington College in 2006. After serving in an interim role as the manager of a residential association in Montgomery, she moved back to Birmingham to accept an internship in marketing at Motion Industries. Later, Claire was the Director of the Pepper Place Farmers Market, before leaving to go back to school at UAB. She hopes to finish her MBA by May 2010, and further pursue her career in Business Development, Marketing and/or Commercial Real Estate. Claire's interests and hobbies include her mixed breed black lab - Bella, running, climbing, music and exploring everything Birmingham has to offer.


Will is attending Auburn University and will be graduating in December. He is majoring in chemical engineering with a biomedical specialization and minoring in business. He is a member of the social fraternity Phi Gamma Delta. He also belongs to several honor societies: Tau Beta Pi, Omega Chi Epsilon, Phi Lambda Upsilon, and Delta Epsilon Iota. He is originally from Birmingham, and graduated from Hoover High School in 2005. He enjoys watching and playing sports in his free time.

Sorry for the lateness. By the time I get home Friday, I will have driven nearly 1000 miles in this 4 day work week.

Gary Johnson

MCA Golf Scramble

On May 21, 2009, Dr. Raymond Thompson and I were invited guests of HSA Engineers and Scientists at the annual Montgomery Claims Association Golf Outing. The tournament was held at the new Tallapoosa Lakes golf course in Montgomery. It was a scramble format with our team finishing a respectable 5 under par 67. A portion of the proceeds were donated to a local charity. Pictured from left to right are: Billy Jett of AlaMed, Dr. Raymond Thompson of Vista Engineering, Gary Johnson of Vear, and Keith Honeycutt of HSA.

Dr. Thompson and Camie Schraner of HSA. We had to make a beeline back to Birmingham after the tournament because Vista was hosting an ASM meeting that evening. Work, work, work....
Gary Johnson

Dirt Roads...........

Yesterday we used our Sokkia SET 530R3 total station to map nearly 2500 feet of a dirt road with a change in elevation of nearly 75 feet. That's an average grade of 3% - pretty good. This required one traverse. I've decided I'd rather map a mile of interstate than 1/2 mile of dirt road: no stripes, hard to discern road edge, just a transition into a ditch on both sides. It could have been dustier though. The weather around here has been reminding me of the 4 years I spent in Seattle. Back to the dirt road: There's about 15 elevations that could be mapped across the road for any given cross section: tree/grass edge, outter top edge of ditch, outside bottom of ditch, inside bottom of ditch, inner top edge of ditch, road edge, wheel trough, and center line gets you half way. If you do that every 100 feet for 2500 feet, that's 375 points not counting accident viscinity evidence like debris, tire marks, gouges, etc. And then the school buses started going by......
Gary Johnson

So You Want To Do Accident Reconstruction?

Be ready for your vehicle to look like this. The necessities: mobile email, gps, and satellite radio. In my case, Blackberry, Garmin Nuvi, and Sirius. My truck had factory XM radio, but thanks to the Chevrolet Avalanche forum, the Sirius radio (with a Tivo like buffer) is hacked into the XM input on the factory radio, hence the "Preview." This eliminates the need to use the anemic FM transmitter in the Sirius unit, and the sound quality is great. Also, below the Sirius unit is a 1/8 inch stereo plug from Radio Shack hacked into the satellite radio that interrups that, so I can plug in my iPod. I drive a 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche, but you can really drive what you want. I'll do a later post addressing the most common question I hear: "How do you get started in accident reconstruciton?"
Gary Johnson

Work Trip in the Smokies

Here's the best I could do.

Gary Johnson

Why Am I Blogging On Friday Afternoon?

Because I am headed to a site in the Great Smokey Mountains tomorrow morning. I'm sure there will be a photo op sometime between here and there (I'm not driving). We'll see.
Gary Johnson

Old B-17

My dad sent me this today. I had actually played on that one when it was parked at the old Wheelless Airport in Dothan, AL in the early 1970's. They had been converted to crop dusters and then just parked. Unfortunately, this one crashed in May of 1976 when an engine caught fire. Here is a link to the site; lots of interesting images of old warbirds.

A little history of Wheelless Airport: The Whelless' donated the land to the city of Dothan so they could build a golf course on it, but the Wheelless' kept the rights to the surrounding properties, so they could build houses adjacent to the golf course. Click here for a Google map. Note the "Brannon Stand" intersection in the old and new maps.
Gary Johnson

Moooooo

 

Somewhere in Chilton County, Alabama 5-5-09.

Caption contest, anyone?

Suggestions from the cast:

1)There's gotta be a Cinco de Mayo party around here somewhere.

2) The grass may not be greener, but there's more of it.

3) How am I suposed to hitchhike without thumbs?

TTFN

Gary Johnson

Pedigree

My screen saver is really just a slide show of all of the pictures in "My Pictures." This popped up yesterday while I was reading a deposition. It(the picture, not the deposition) was taken around 1960. This was a franchise Goodyear tire store in Dothan, Alabama that my grandfather founded in 1948. It's also the reason that I have been able to do my own brake work. I've never paid for any brake work on any vehicle I've ever owned. I just wish I could afford the equipment to mount and balance my own tires. I've had less than pleasant experiences at several of the local franchise tire places. Gotta run.

Gary Johnson

Is "data" singular or plural?

I know it's the plural of datum, but it just doesn't sound right sandwiched between "these" and "are." Like, "These data are." Here is what Oxford says. Basically, it's on the way out. It's still the preferred usage in Britain, but here in the colonies I vote for identifying it as an "uncountable noun" as in the word "information." There is no such word as "informations." "These information" sounds just as bad. I say forget proper and let's go with what sounds right. Here are some of my favorite examples of the inconsistency of the English language:

laughter -daughter
good - food
I could go on...

I'll dedicate this one to Kevin Ruggiero, who talked me out of doing it the right way.

Gary Johnson

We should all be here:

Going on right now at Barber Motorsports Park. But, we've got people mapping a site where the police paint is probably still wet, and I have a shareholder meeting at 1. Now there's something I thought I'd never say.
Gary Johnson