Franchise Tour Company Accused Of Insufficient Vehicle Maintenance

Case Overview

This case involves a Hawaiian franchise tour company with a variety of amphibious ‘duck boat’ tour vehicles. On the day of the incident, the tour operator was attempting to cross the road when the axial component of the vehicle failed, preventing it from stopping. The vehicle collided with a building causing 4 passenger deaths and many other injuries. The parent company supplied the vehicle in question to the franchise after refurbishing it for use. It was later discovered that the vehicle’s axial component had been insufficiently repaired by the parent company before the vehicle had been acquired by the tour company. The owners of the franchise location were aware of the faulty axial but had not contacted the parent company or taken additional measures to remedy the issue. An expert in automotive manufacturing was sought to opine on how prudent manufacturers comply with government regulations and vehicle testing prior to putting vehicles on the road.

Questions to the Accident Reconstruction expert and their responses

Please describe your automotive manufacturing experience.

I worked in the automotive industry with trucking company manufacturers for close to 20 years. During this time, I was exposed to and responsible for, product design and manufacturing processes. I have been involved in aftermarket, secondary bodybuilders, and similar retrofit designs, in my past. I was also responsible for testing and government regulations and standards, which includes NHTSA, FMVSS, and FMCSA. I had responsibilities ranging from future product design, current product quality improvements, and final assembly of the vehicle, including testing.

What standards and protocols do manufacturers have to follow before putting a vehicle on the road?

Manufacturers have to adhere to FMVSS and FMCSA (commercial trucks) as a primary testing standards guideline. Vehicles need to meet minimum standards for many areas, including crash-worthiness, durability, and other categories.

About the expert

This expert has nearly 30 years of experience in mechanical and automotive engineering. He regularly performs engineering investigations and failure analysis from a mechanical engineering standpoint for both vehicle and non-vehicle-related projects. He earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University, before receiving his MS in engineering sciences from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Today, this expert is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Illinois and is certified in crash data retrieval. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This expert previously was a product engineer at General Motors Corporation, the director of product engineering at Oxford Automotive Inc., the senior engineering manager at Hendrickson International, the director of program management at Motor Coach Industries International, and the senior director of engineering at Packer Engineering Inc. Currently, he serves as a senior engineer at a professional analysis and engineering consultancy in Illinois.

E-007975

Specialties:

Accident Reconstruction