Letter from the editor

We would like to thank our loyal subscribers as we transitioned and merged certain companies over the past year. In the last issue's "Letter from the Editor", we were completing the merger of Collision Publishing and Crash Dtata Group Inc. We have now also finalized merging The ARC Network into Crash Data Group Inc. Although these tasks were more difficult and time consuming than anticipated, I believe we are in a position to bettter serve all of our customers and the industry in general as Crash Data Group Inc. As you hold this issue of Collision Magazine (Vol 13, Issue 1) we have peer reviewed and editorial reviewed articles lined up through the next two issues. As always, if your would like to contribute to Collision Magazine, please email us your abstract for review. All of the articles published in Collision Magazine are fresh, new articles and research. We do not publish "I found this interesting stuff on the internet..." or articles that have already been published and circulated.

For this issue, we had planned certain topics for inclusion but due to the availibility of additional research and the number of quality articles submitted and approved, we are moving some of those articles to the next issue of Collision Magazine, Vol 13, Issue 2. For example, the Toyota recording order article planned for this issue has been bumped to the next issue to include additional information about a better defined trigger bias, brake versus acceleration data and, if all goes as planned, additional research into data which might compliment and augment Toyota crash data in a way not currently available.

Related to this issue of Collision, the 2019 EDR User's Summit was the single most widely attended summit for vehicle crash data of its kind ever. Highlighting new technology, the future of the EDR Tools and new technologies such the the CDR 900, the 2019 EDR User's

Summit set a new standard for this type of conference, the data and information presented, and has become the basis for a suite of articles and papers in this and the coming issues of Collision Magazine. Having adapted our publishing schedule to the EDR User's Summit and now banking a depth chart of interesting and meaningful articles and papers for the upcoming issues, Collision Magazine will continue to be a leading source for relevant crash research information.

Another development readers of Collision Magazine might find interesting and useful is the newly developed web site https://www. thecrashhub.com/. As mentioned earlier, Crash Data Group has merged the The ARC Network (www.accidentreconstruction.com) and EDR Experts (www.edrexperts.com) into one comprehensive website - The Crash Hub. Locating local and regional experts, finding training opportunities, initiating research and other crash related topics have been brought together in one easy to use website. A specialized experts referral database, and more make The Crash Hub a vital emerging resource for crash reconstructionists, insurance professionals and potential clients. Check it out at www.thecrashhub.com and give it a try. Join now and receive one month free.

Managing Editor

crash verb\'krash\

1. to collide violently with an obstacle or another vehicle.

-ol·o·gy noun\'äl-ə-jē\ crash·ol·o·gy noun\'krash-'äl-ə-jē \

1. a subject of study; a branch of science.

-ology is a back-formation from the names of certain disciplines. The -logy element basically means "the study of ____". Such words are formed from Greek or Latin roots with the terminal -logy derived from the Greek suffix -λογια (-logia), speaking, from λεγειν (legein), "to speak". Through the years -ology and -logy have come to mean, "study of" or "science of" and either of these suffixes often utilize the form of –ologist.

1. The science of crashes.

So, Crashologists, welcome to Crashology – The Science of Crashes. In this new, recurring feature of Collision – The International Compendium for Crash Research, the authors plan to address a wide range of topics centered around the study of crashes and crash reconstruction. We plan to offer crash test reviews with a focus toward the validation of new or existing reconstruction methodologies and insight into the ever-increasing data we recover from vehicles. Original research and testing are planned in an effort to continue to broaden the information and data available to crash investigators and reconstructionists. Finally, there will be technical articles related to issues and concepts relevant to the collision reconstruction community.

When someone describes a project as, “It’s a work in progress,” it is often with the intent of explaining why the current state of the project might look unfinished or not conform to other examples of similar work. We proudly consider this a “work in progress” because we recognize that the research in this field is never done and we have no existing model as our guide. We intend to offer topics of interest, always with the goal of pushing forward the science of crashes, which we now call, “Crashology.”

The topic of the inaugural edition of Crashology is a recent development in the digital age of automobiles, Vehicle System Forensics for Crash Reconstruction.