The Kodsi Post is our blog, featuring useful and informative articles written by our very own experts.
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COVID-19 Update
Kodsi Engineering is monitoring the global and national developments in relation to COVID-19. Contingency plans and processes are in place with a focus on ensuring the safety of our employees and the continuity of service to our clients. Strategies to combat the...
Presentation: From Automotive Fire Basics to Modern Incident Forensic Investigation
In this blog presentation, we cover the fire triangle elements of heat, oxygen and fuel, the stages of a fire, and the four fire cause classifications. We go through some investigation notes, thoughts, and a court case example. We also discuss unique automotive fire...
Now Available: Tesla “Black Box” EDR Downloads
Kodsi Forensic Engineering is pleased to announce that we have expanded our provision of Event Data Recorder Tools again. We can now download data from the airbag control modules of Tesla vehicles. The Tesla modules record essentially the same “15 standard elements”...
Driver Response Time to Four Hazard Types
Driver perception-response time is one of the most argued variables among experts in human factors, driver behaviour, and crash reconstruction. Although several studies have been conducted to study drivers’ perception and response to certain roadway hazards, some...
Kodsi Engineering Announces Vice President Appointments
TORONTO — July 12, 2018 – Kodsi Engineering, one of Canada’s leading Forensic Investigations firms, is pleased to announce two appointments to its leadership team. Mr. Shady Attalla has been promoted to Vice President of Engineering; and Mrs. Sohair Said has been...
Investigations of Slip and Fall or Trip and Fall Incidents
According to the World Health Organisation, falls are the second leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwide, and 37.3 million falls severe enough to require medical attention occur each year. Studying falls requires an understanding of how...
Present and Future Applications of the “Black Box”
Since access to automotive “black box” data first became available in the early 1990s, they have increasingly become a gold mine of information for insurers and investigators alike. What we colloquially refer to as a “black box” in an automobile is officially known as...
The Black Box Crash Course
Learn all the essentials you need to know about automotive EDR “black boxes” in just 15 minutes! This online educational video crash course covers the following topics: Black box design and function Types of data recorded Methods of obtaining EDR data EDR data...
Season’s Greetings!
All of us at Kodsi Forensic Engineering wish you and yours a safe and joyful holiday season!
A very Kodsi Christmas
?The Mississauga Kodsi Squad celebrated Christmas together at our annual Christmas dinner party last night?
Happy Halloween!
Wishing everyone a very fun, safe, and very Happy Halloween! From all of us at Kodsi Forensic Engineering!
Our Latest Research Findings on Vehicle Stiffness Coefficients
Energy cannot be destroyed; only converted from one form to another. During a crash, the kinetic energy from the moving vehicle is converted into crush damage. When reconstructionists need to assess the severity of a crash, one of the tools at their disposal is the...
To deploy or not to deploy? That is the question…
We are often asked to explain why the airbags did or didn’t deploy in a particular collision. Many people have a misconception that airbags will or should “go off” if the vehicle was travelling faster than a certain speed. But travel speed is not a key factor for...
Black Box Lunch and Learn Video Highlights
Kodsi Forensic Engineering’s Technical Director, Shady Attalla, P.Eng., brought participants up to speed on “black box” (EDR) basics, the latest advancements, and the EDRs of the future as the “safety brains” of driverless cars at yesterday's Lunch & Learn. The...
Effect of Climate Change on Property Claims & Forensic Investigations
Photo Credit: baldeaglebluff/Flickr (CC-by-sa) The effects that overall rising global temperatures are having on our climate is already having a large influence on property claims both in Canada, and worldwide. It is critical for forensic experts and insurers alike to...
Welcoming Kenneth Cowie to the Kodsi Forensic Engineering Team
We are pleased and excited to announce the addition of Mr. Kenneth Cowie to our team of experts! Mr. Cowie is a CDR technician and specializes in vehicle evidence preservation and scene surveying. His other area of expertise is roadway safety design, including...
Reconstructing Night-time Visibility
Pedestrian fatalities account for approximately 15% of all motor vehicle accident related deaths, and more than half occur at night when visibility is reduced. So, when we as accident reconstructionists are asked to determine whether a typical driver could have...
The Evolution of Crash Reconstruction in a Driverless World: A Forensic Expert’s Observations over the last 20 Years
The world is changing, and the reality of autonomous trucks, delivery vans, and driverless electric cars will transform major cities first, then our roadways, and finally our entire human infrastructure. Completely autonomous commercial vehicles will replace the...
The Reconstructionator: Computer-Assisted Engineering Mechanics for Law Enforcement Crash Reconstruction Professionals
As a way of giving back to an industry that has given me so much, I am excited to announce that I will be offering an in-depth course to share my engineering mechanics knowledge with professional law enforcement crash reconstructionists. Forensic reconstruction...
Our Team Is Growing: Meet Our New Talent!
We are pleased to announce that there are some new faces around our office as we grow and further diversify our technical team. Biomechanist Avery Chakravarty, M.A.Sc., has trail-blazed new testing methodologies in injury biomechanics and brings with her the latest...
Kodsi & DIALOG collaborate to offer Forensic Structural Engineering & Remediation Services
It is with great pleasure that we are introducing a comprehensive set of Forensic Structural Engineering Services in collaboration with DIALOG! The collaboration creates a court-tested and multi-disciplinary team with extensive experience in building design and...
Happy Holidays!
All of us at Kodsi Forensic Engineering wish you and yours a safe and joyful holiday season!
Winner Announcement for the Blog Topic Contest!
Thank you to all who submitted blog topic suggestions for our experts to write about in future posts! Your submissions help our forensic engineering experts write educational content that is useful to you and your peers in the insurance and legal industries. Many of...
The Driver in Question: Who was really driving?
Sometimes after a collision has occurred, there is an uncertainty around who was actually driving at the time of the crash. We call this, as you probably do too, the “Who was driving?” scenario. The “Who was driving?” scenario arises when: No one admits to being the...
Happy Halloween!
All of us at Kodsi Forensic Engineering are wishing everyone a VERY fun and safe Halloween today!
The Kodsi Post Blog Topic Contest – Extended!
We pride ourselves on writing educational content that is useful to you, so we want your feedback! Take two minutes to tell us what you would like our experts to write about, and you will be entered into a draw to win a $200 gift card to anywhere you choose....
Using Video Evidence in Accident Reconstruction
We love objective evidence. When forensic experts get video footage related to a collision or incident, it’s like Christmas came early for us. Photos of the incident scene with the vehicles still in their final rest positions are like that sweater from your...
“Black Box” Quick Info Sheet
Need a refresher on vehicle "black box" basics? Check out our handy one-page summary on automotive black boxes on our website. You can view or download a PDF copy to share with your colleagues, or print a copy and keep one at your desk. Share this...
Post-Crash Questions for Statements & Discoveries
We have refreshed our list of questions to ask drivers and passengers when taking statements or conducting examinations under oath. This handy and organized one-page document will help you gather all applicable details about the collision. The information you collect...
“Back to School” is not just for kids: Free Seminars for insurance, legal, and law enforcement professionals
As our children/ nieces / nephews / grandchildren are getting back to school, it's a perfect time for professionals of all fields to sharpen their knowledge. This summer, several of our experts worked hard on refining our existing seminars and developing three new...
Welcome Senior Reconstructionist Russ Heslop!
We are pleased and excited to announce the addition of Mr. Russ Heslop to our team of experts! This is the first time at Kodsi Engineering that we have integrated a Senior Accident Reconstructionist with such an extensive law enforcement background into our team....
“Bracing” for The Future of Injury Biomechanics
With the increasing autonomous capabilities of vehicles, and with fully driverless cars just on the horizon, many automotive manufacturers are promising a future with fewer traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Although the types of crashes we see most often will...
Was the Black Box wrong? A Case Study
The “black box” is often regarded as the Holy Grail of evidence when investigating a crash. But is the black box always right? The following case study demonstrates the importance of examining black box data with an underlying knowledge of its limitations, and always...
Forget Hot-wiring: Investigating Modern-Day Vehicle Theft
We’ve all seen movies from the 90’s where a thief would strip back a couple of wires under the dash of a vehicle and connect them to start the car without a key and drive away. But that technique (called “hot-wiring”) is useless on most vehicles built since the mid to...
The Art and Science of Photogrammetry
Measurements of scene evidence or vehicle damage are often used in forensic analysis and reconstruction because many of the calculations used to answer questions depend on these measurements. One of the techniques experts use to accurately measure evidence such as...
Measuring Slip Resistance
When investigating a slip and fall incident, our forensic experts are often asked to comment on how slippery a surface would have been under certain conditions and whether a typical person would have slipped in that situation. In order to answer these two questions,...
Crash Conference 3 Highlights
All of us at Kodsi Forensic Engineering would like to extend our sincerest thanks to all attendees who participated in our conference and helped make it our best Crash Conference to date! We have compiled a very short video to share some of the highlights of the day...
The Effect on Occupant Motion when Striking a Moving vs. Stationary Vehicle
Car accidents occur between various types of vehicles, at a range of speeds and angles and typically involve two moving vehicles. However, most standard government enforced crash tests do not necessarily exhibit what typically occurs in a real-world crash. This is why...
WREX 2016
Our senior crash reconstruction engineers, Sam Kodsi and Shady Attalla, are spending this week studying a dozen unique crash tests and attending seminars at the world's largest crash reconstruction conference - WREX 2016! The crash test lineup at WREX has already...
Crash Testing Science: Why Do We Crash?
Vehicle collisions occur every day in every imaginable combination of vehicle type, speed, angle, and a plethora of other factors. Studying the physics of all sorts of collisions is important for a number of reasons, the foremost of which are to improve vehicle safety...
Crash Conference 3 Teaser Video
We are counting down the days to our third Crash Conference! Watch the video below for a sneak peek at what we have in store for conference attendees this year! Still need to get your tickets? Click here to register for the Crash Conference online.
The Pros and Cons of Using Crash Test Dummies and Human Subjects
Engineers and scientists have tried to understand and measure the forces experienced by an occupant during a collision by using various testing methods under a wide range of impact orientations and severities. Testing impact forces requires a re-creation of collision...
Detailed Programme for Crash Conference 3, featuring high speed crash tests!
Our clients asked for faster crashes at our crash conferences, and we listened! Kodsi Forensic Engineering has shifted the focus of this year’s crash conference to feature several high-speed crash tests powered by new technology and mechanical pulley systems....
Kodsi Engineering Inc. (KEI) is celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary!
We would like to extend our gratitude to our clients, without whom we would not be successful. Thank you for your business, support, and recommendations over the years. It was those personal endorsements that allowed Kodsi Engineering to grow as an industry leader in...
Headlight Technologies & Accident Reconstruction
Have you ever driven down a roadway at night and looked into your rear-view mirror, only to be blasted by the super bright headlights of the vehicle behind you? If you have, you already know first-hand of one of the downsides of advanced headlight technology: having...
View Engineering Simulations of a Head-on Collision
Forensic engineering simulations are one of the many tools our experts utilize to refine their understanding of a collision or vehicle dynamics. When created by professional experts with intimate knowledge of the complex, physics-based accident-reconstruction...
Protecting Our Children: The Biomechanics Behind Child Seat Safety
When it comes to collisions, children are a special group with different injury tolerances than adults, and as such, require special safety considerations. According to Transport Canada, seven thousand children ages 0 to 12 are killed or injured every year as a result...
Left or Right? How to Pass Safely
When we need to get somewhere, there is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a slower car ahead on the highway! Luckily, the transportation engineers who designed our roads were annoyed by that as well, so they have given us some options to get...
Crashing for Research at OIAA’s Provincial Claims Conference
With this year's Crash Conference 3 fast approaching, we wanted to share with you an article written by Sam Kodsi, B.Eng, P.Eng., and Dwayne Toscano, B.Eng., about a crash test we did last year at OIAA's Provincial Claims Conference. The article was published in...
The Evolution of Automotive Safety Systems
Automotive safety systems have evolved tremendously considering that the humble seatbelt wasn't even mandatory in new North American vehicles until 1968, 13 years after it was first made available as an option (see "The Seatbelt Turns 60" for more on the history of...
Kodsi Forensic Engineering wishes you Joyful Holidays!
Registration is open Crash Conference 3!
Join us on Thursday, May 12, 2016 for Crash Conference 3! Registration is now open! Our interactive conference features live, human-subject crash tests, affording you the unique occasion to witness what happens during collisions. Learn about vehicle crash dynamics,...
Save the Date for our 2016 Crash Conference!
We are crashing for research again! Our 3rd Crash Conference will be held on May 12, 2016 in Mississauga, Ontario. Don't miss the chance to attend the only crash conference in Ontario where insurance, legal, and other professionals can observe human subject research...
Commercial Vehicle Hacking: The New Hacking Frontier?
Reports about vehicle hacking have become more common in recent months, but while consumers worry about their own vehicles being targeted, the owners and insurers of commercial vehicles may actually have the most to lose. Why are commercial vehicles especially at...
Upcoming Webinar: Ask An Expert: Open-Mic Discussions With Leading Forensic Engineers
We are pleased to announce that our experts Sam Kodsi, Brett Campbell, and Shady Attalla will be featured as guest panelists on a live webinar hosted by Origin and Cause. Date: Tuesday, November 24th, 2015 Time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm ET Click here to register! ...
The Effect of Age on Slip, Trip, and Falls
Walking is an essential motor skill used during the activities of daily life. There are factors that can affect an individuals’ stability during locomotion and should be considered when determining the risk and probability of sustaining an injury due to a slip,...
The Seatbelt Turns 60: An Interview with Sam Kodsi
Sam Kodsi is a Consulting Professional Engineer and the President of Kodsi Forensic Engineering. Sam worked in seatbelt component manufacturing before shifting gears and becoming an expert in forensic engineering, crash reconstruction, injury biomechanics, and...
We crashed again! Watch our 2015 Crash Test from the OIAA Out of Town Conference
When the OIAA’s Provincial Claims Conference organizing committee invited us to conduct a live crash test at their event in Huntsville, Ontario, we were thrilled about the opportunity to expand the crash test knowledge base and educate attendees. If you missed it: we...
Dr. McCarty Presents Research at the 2015 International Society of Biomechanics Conference
Recently, Kodsi Forensic Engineering’s Dr. Cristin McCarty travelled to Glasgow, Scotland as an invited speaker at the 25th International Society of Biomechanics Conference to present her Ph.D. research on impact loading as it relates to joint injury and...
The Volatility of Black Box Data
In our last newsletter (winter 2015), we wrote about the importance of preserving black box data early in the claims process. The reason it is so critical to obtain black box data as soon as possible is because in some vehicles the data can be erased over time,...
The Evolution of the “Black Box”
The Event Data Recorder (EDR) or “black box” provides our experts with a powerful tool, allowing us to reconstruct the events of a collision in greater detail, with higher accuracy, and with more precision than ever before. These black box modules began appearing in...
Don’t miss our research live in action at the OIAA Provincial Claims Conference
We are crashing again! Kodsi Forensic Engineering is proud to announce our participation at the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association's 2015 Provincial Claims Conference in Huntsville, Ontario. The educational conference runs between May 7-9, and we will be...
How a Properly Worn Seatbelt Does its Job
Correctly worn seat belts help to contain occupants in their seats and allow most of the collision forces associated with a rapidly decelerating vehicle to be applied across the chest and pelvis. A properly fitted shoulder belt should lie securely across the center of...
Still not buckling up? You’re not the only one who could get hurt
A recent survey found that the top reasons for not using seat belts included driving a short distance, forgetfulness, and discomfort. You can put more than just yourself in danger if you happen to be involved in a collision without your seat belt on. Unbelted...
Cheap Insurance for Insurers
Have you ever found yourself wishing you had that important piece of scene evidence or the black box data from a vehicle which is no longer available? The evidence related to a claim becomes vulnerable right after the incident happens, and without proactively making...
Watch our new video: Crashing for Research
Step into the driver's seat and learn all about our crash testing. Our 2014 Crash Conference video shows you some of our crash tests and additional behind the scenes footage with commentary by our lead experts. UPDATE: Our Crash Conferences have gotten bigger...
Lane Change Collisions and Blind Spot Assessment
Changing lanes can be one of the riskiest driving manoeuvres that a driver performs; lane change collisions account for about 4 to 10 percent of all automotive crashes. Research suggests that most involved drivers were unaware of the presence of the other vehicle. ...
Welcome Cristin McCarty – Bringing more Biomechanics Expertise to our Team
We are pleased to announce the addition of Cristin McCarty to our team as Biomechanist. With a PhD in Biomedical Science, Cristin brings to Kodsi Forensic Engineering a strong background in the areas of injury and tissue biomechanics, human exercise physiology, and...
Working with our Clients
In an effort to facilitate our interaction with you, our clients, as well as to provide useful information on how we carry out our professional duties as experts, we have compiled a handy Customer Information Package. This package, also offered in a printed booklet...
Motorcycle Myths and Facts
With riding season upon us, we thought this would be an excellent time to debunk a few common myths about motorcycles. MYTH: motorcycles do not have black boxes Some motorcycles do have event data recorders similar to those found in passenger vehicles. Some...
Watch your feet on vacation!
In Canada, there are standards and guidelines for walkways and roadways to promote pedestrian and motorist safety. Unfortunately, many counties do not have the same standards for walkway discontinuities, potholes, and other hazards that lead to trips, slips, and...
The Amber Signal Conundrum
As you approach an intersection facing a green traffic signal, you sometimes find yourself in an awkward position when the traffic signal changes to amber, and you need to make a choice about whether you should firmly apply your brakes and stop, or continue through...
Welcome Andrew Northmore!
Bringing More Civil Engineering Expertise to our Team We are happy to announce the addition of Andrew Northmore to our technical team. With an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a masters degree in civil engineering (including years of research on...
Thank you for all who joined us at our 2014 Crash Test Conference!
The second edition of our Crash Test Conference was a huge success! Thank you to all who attended. Stay tuned for our upcoming video release!
Give Your Neck a Chance
How to Properly Position Your Head Restraint Neck injuries in rear end collisions are extremely common and account for billions of dollars in insurance claims every year. Where your seatbelt restricts the forward motion of your body relative to the vehicle in...
Why the 2-second following rule?
Imagine you are driving down a highway and the driver in the vehicle ahead suddenly slams on their brakes. Your vehicle should be able to decelerate about as rapidly if you also slam on your brakes. However, when it comes to responding to a road hazard, it takes some...
Hydroplaning 101: Driving Safely in Spring Showers
Spring showers may be a welcome change from the harsh cold and road slush. Unfortunately, your vehicle is susceptible to encountering unusually high water levels on the road during this season. When one or more tires on a vehicle actually loses contact with the road...
We Crash for Research! 21 Days left for Early Bird Pricing
If you investigate, adjust, litigate, or otherwise handle a claim, you should come to our Crash Test Conference on May 29th in Mississauga. Our interactive conference gives you and your team the unique occasion to witness what happens during a crash and interact with...
Message from the President: Research adds value for everyone
The curious nerds at the KFEI group are constantly exploringconcepts that have not been studied enough, or even at all. This is especially true for information that our team requires to support their analysis and reconstruction of crashes. When analyzing forensic...
Registration is now open for the 2014 KFEI Crash Test Conference!
Learn about vehicle crash dynamics, factors determining collision severity, and how occupants move during a crash. Our interactive conference gives you and your team the unique occasion to witness what happens during a crash and speak to the experts who know crashes...
Walking the Walk
Imagine yourself walking along a sidewalk by yourself on a nice sunny day. Now imagine yourself jaywalking across a busy wet street during a rainstorm. In each of these two scenarios, you most likely pictured yourself moving at different speeds. Pedestrian speed is a...
Message from the President: When in Doubt, Go Forensic!
Every day, our forensic experts are presented with scenarios that may seem simple on the surface. However, complexities often lie under the cover. The analysis of physical evidence and eyewitness accounts using applied science and research allows our experts...
Get A Grip: The Importance of Winter Tires
Tires are the most significant safety equipment on vehicles; they are the only part of our cars, vans, trucks, and SUVs that touch the road, and they transfer all driving forces. Yet, with the exception of Québec which has mandatory winter tire legislation, only about...
KEI’s 1st Crash Test Conference
The staff at KEI would like to extend a big thank you to all attendees for making our first Crash Test Conference a huge success! The conference was held on May 31st in Mississauga where nearly one hundred and fifty professionals in the legal, insurance, and law...
Filling in the Gaps in Pedestrian Speed Research
Even though most pedestrians struck by vehicles are mid-block jaywalking, the vast majority of research only measures pedestrian speeds within controlled environments such as sidewalks or crosswalks. Picking up on this serious disparity, KEI engineers conducted a...
KEI Engineers Attend the ARC-CSI Crash Test Conference
KEI engineers Shady Attalla and Karla Cassidy travelled to Las Vegas in June 2012 to attend the ARC-CSI Crash Test Conference. They observed seven different crash tests, some of which involved multiple impacts between multiple vehicles. “Seeing the collisions...
Did You Know….?
A lot of collisions happen when people are rushing to get home. Transport Canada’s National Collision Database included information from about 1.5 million collisions that occurred across Canada between 1999 and 2008. The hours between 3 and 6 pm had the highest...
When Do Airbags Deploy?
Now there’s a tricky question. There is no single answer as to when an airbag should or should not deploy. Nor is there a magic collision speed that sets off airbags. Certainly not all types of crashes will result in airbag deployment, and airbags may not necessarily...
Driver Acceleration Behaviour Research
Even though most intersection crashes involve two-way stop controlled intersections, most research investigated vehicle acceleration profiles within controlled environments such as traffic signal controlled intersections. A prerequisite for the determination of crash...