My name is William J. Griffin, but most people call be either Jim, or Jimmy. Actually in my career, I've been called many things, but lets just stick with Jim or Jimmy for now if you don't mind. Like most people, during my youth I thought about a career. My thought was becoming a law enforcement officer. But, like many others I wasn't really sure that is what I was cut out to do. Around age 18, I got a job with the Street and Sanitation Department for the City of Birmingham. While working there, I attended Jefferson State Junior College at night, expecting to earn a degree in criminal justice. I worked my way up to being a truck driver for the City of Birmingham, still entertaining the idea of a career in law enforcement. In 1976, shortly after I turned 21 years old, I joined the Birmingham Police Department auxiliary division (reserves) while still working as a truck driver. After having worked as an auxiliary officer for a while, I decided it was indeed the right thing for me. In 1978 I went to the police department full-time. In just over a year, I found myself one night being assigned to work the freeway car (Wreck Coupe). As luck would have it, during my first shift on the freeway I had to work a fatality. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, but I was advised to ask the evidence technician for assistance when he arrived. The evidence technician arrived, and I approached him and asked him for help, because I had never worked a fatal crash. He responded that this was his first night on call and he had never had one either. So we did the best we could and made our way through the investigation. Fortunately it was a single car simple investigation.
This, however, made me start to think. Like most police officers, I thought I hated wrecks. I asked myself why? The simple answer was I did not understand them. To my way of thinking, the best way to understand wrecks was to work more of them. After that shift, I informed the Sergeant that I would be glad to fill in any time they needed someone to work freeway. Soon thereafter I was designated as the "relief man" on the freeway whenever the normally assigned officer was not there.
I began to seek out and read any material I could find concerning wreck investigations and to learn whatever I could. Before much longer, I was approached by my supervisors and asked if I would consider taking on the freeway car full-time. I gladly accepted and continued to learn whatever I could. I requested schools a number of times but was never allowed to attend one until I took it upon myself to go to IPTM and enroll in the advanced accident investigation and reconstruction classes.
A few years after I was trained in reconstruction there was much debate about "accrediting" reconstructionists, or some type of a peer review process to keep the industry as professional as possible. This debate brought about the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR). At the first available opportunity I signed up to sit for the accreditation exam. I passed both parts of the exam and was granted accreditation number 379. Since that time I have maintained my accreditation which requires that I attend at least 80 contact hours of training every five years. Most of my five year periods of re-accreditation I have far exceeded the 80 hour requirement. I also began to do consulting work with attorneys and insurance companies soon after my reconstruction training in 1988. Between my 38 year long police career and my consulting business I have investigated literally thousands of car wrecks, and have testified hundreds, if not thousands of times both in deposition and courtrooms. I am a member of both the National Association of Professional Accident Reconstruction Specialists (NAPARS) and the South Carolina Accident Reconstruction Society (SCARS). I am also a member of the International Network of Collision Reconstructionists (INCR).
In the 1990s a research program was underway at General Motors concerning a way to obtain crash data from the modules that were being put into their late model vehicles. After much research a total was released that would allow accessing the data in the modules specifically the one that controls deployment of airbags. The first tool was put out by a company called Vetronics and was quickly bought out by Bosch. In the fairly early days I traveled to Fort Worth Texas and obtain certification as both a technician and analyst on the CDR Tool. Shortly thereafter I joined a user group for the CDR Tool in order to stay in contact with others using the tool and the great minds who had helped pioneer it. In 2014 became trained as a trainer for CDR Tool Technicians. The CDR Tool is just what it says a tool.
The information obtained from the modules in the vehicles, and most vehicles on the road today are now supported due to a federal requirement that it be available in all cars manufactured after the date the rule was enacted. Those vehicles that are not accessible with the Bosch CDR tool have their own separate tools with which the data can be imaged. Some of those can only be done by the manufacturer. However as I said before this is only a tool and does not give us all of the answers. Attempting to obtain all of your answers by doing nothing more than obtaining the data from the CDR tool is very much akin to attempting to complete a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle when all you have are three or four of the pieces. Once the information is obtained it must be analyzed and then compared with the results of a reconstruction. It simply does not, and is not intended to, provide all of the answers about what happened in the wreck. Calculations must be done from scene evidence, and vehicle evidence, then compared with what is found in the CDR Report. Speeds, ΔV, times and distances still must be calculated individually and compared to is found in the CDR Report. However, the CDR Tool is a vital part of today's reconstructions and should never be overlooked when available.
This, however, made me start to think. Like most police officers, I thought I hated wrecks. I asked myself why? The simple answer was I did not understand them. To my way of thinking, the best way to understand wrecks was to work more of them. After that shift, I informed the Sergeant that I would be glad to fill in any time they needed someone to work freeway. Soon thereafter I was designated as the "relief man" on the freeway whenever the normally assigned officer was not there.
I began to seek out and read any material I could find concerning wreck investigations and to learn whatever I could. Before much longer, I was approached by my supervisors and asked if I would consider taking on the freeway car full-time. I gladly accepted and continued to learn whatever I could. I requested schools a number of times but was never allowed to attend one until I took it upon myself to go to IPTM and enroll in the advanced accident investigation and reconstruction classes.
A few years after I was trained in reconstruction there was much debate about "accrediting" reconstructionists, or some type of a peer review process to keep the industry as professional as possible. This debate brought about the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR). At the first available opportunity I signed up to sit for the accreditation exam. I passed both parts of the exam and was granted accreditation number 379. Since that time I have maintained my accreditation which requires that I attend at least 80 contact hours of training every five years. Most of my five year periods of re-accreditation I have far exceeded the 80 hour requirement. I also began to do consulting work with attorneys and insurance companies soon after my reconstruction training in 1988. Between my 38 year long police career and my consulting business I have investigated literally thousands of car wrecks, and have testified hundreds, if not thousands of times both in deposition and courtrooms. I am a member of both the National Association of Professional Accident Reconstruction Specialists (NAPARS) and the South Carolina Accident Reconstruction Society (SCARS). I am also a member of the International Network of Collision Reconstructionists (INCR).
In the 1990s a research program was underway at General Motors concerning a way to obtain crash data from the modules that were being put into their late model vehicles. After much research a total was released that would allow accessing the data in the modules specifically the one that controls deployment of airbags. The first tool was put out by a company called Vetronics and was quickly bought out by Bosch. In the fairly early days I traveled to Fort Worth Texas and obtain certification as both a technician and analyst on the CDR Tool. Shortly thereafter I joined a user group for the CDR Tool in order to stay in contact with others using the tool and the great minds who had helped pioneer it. In 2014 became trained as a trainer for CDR Tool Technicians. The CDR Tool is just what it says a tool.
The information obtained from the modules in the vehicles, and most vehicles on the road today are now supported due to a federal requirement that it be available in all cars manufactured after the date the rule was enacted. Those vehicles that are not accessible with the Bosch CDR tool have their own separate tools with which the data can be imaged. Some of those can only be done by the manufacturer. However as I said before this is only a tool and does not give us all of the answers. Attempting to obtain all of your answers by doing nothing more than obtaining the data from the CDR tool is very much akin to attempting to complete a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle when all you have are three or four of the pieces. Once the information is obtained it must be analyzed and then compared with the results of a reconstruction. It simply does not, and is not intended to, provide all of the answers about what happened in the wreck. Calculations must be done from scene evidence, and vehicle evidence, then compared with what is found in the CDR Report. Speeds, ΔV, times and distances still must be calculated individually and compared to is found in the CDR Report. However, the CDR Tool is a vital part of today's reconstructions and should never be overlooked when available.