Transmission Failure Blamed For Serious Car Accident

Case Overview

This case involves a woman who was driving a mid-size SUV. The woman parked the car in her inclined driveway, exited the vehicle, and began to remove bags from the backseat of the car. As she was removing the contents of the backseat, the car allegedly self-shifted from “park” to “reverse.” The car began to drag the woman down the driveway and because she was in the backseat, she could not hit the brakes to stop it. As she attempted to pull the hand-brake, the car picked up speed and collided with another car in the street. Both the woman and the other driver suffered serious injuries. An expert in automotive engineering familiar with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standards was sought to examine the vehicle and identify why this accident occurred and whether the SUV’s brake-transmission-shift-interlock (BTSI) feature failed.

Questions to the Automotive expert and their responses

Please describe your experience as an automotive engineer, specifically regarding gear shifts and land position.

I have a PhD in automotive engineering and am a lead auditor for multiple quality management system (QMS) standards including TS 16949 (auto), AS9100 (aero), ISO13485 (medical), ISO9001 (general), and ISO 17025 (metrology). I have 25+ years of industry experience including serving as the CEO of a consulting and supply chain management firm for automotive manufacturing companies. I also have 6+ years of experience as an instructor of automotive research at a university. I have specific experience with a major vehicle manufacturer as a process control manager, a supplier quality engineer, QMS systems leader, and a vehicle test engineer. As a vehicle test engineer, I was frequently involved with anticipatory testing which evaluates dozens of customer misuse type scenarios such as the one described in the case.

Please briefly describe your familiarity with NHTSA regulations as they pertain to automotive recalls.

As a result of my experience, I have great familiarity with NHTSA standards. In this particular case, one of two things has happened: either a) the driver did not engage the gear shift into park to begin with or b) the BTSI (brake-transmission-shift-interlock) feature has failed. A trained mechanic familiar with BTSI function should be able to inspect the vehicle to determine if such failure has occurred.

About the expert

This expert has 30 years of experience in mechanical and automotive engineering. She obtained her BS in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech University and her MS in engineering science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, before receiving both her PhD in automotive engineering and her MBA from Clemson University. Today, this expert is a certified TRIZ practitioner, a certified master and international project manager, and a certified quality engineer and manager, and she holds an additional certification in six sigma black-belt. She is also an active member of several professional organizations, including the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the Southern Automotive Women?s Forum. She previously worked as a vehicle test engineer at Milford Proving Ground, as the production supervisor at the Doraville Assembly Plant, as the project leader at General Motors, and as the quality manager at General Electric and Danaher. This expert has also served as the international quality operations manager at VIS, the chief operations officer at Anchor Advantage, the president at Anchor Quality Solutions, and the president at Universal Supplies and Services. She is currently the CEO and president of an engineering consulting company in South Carolina. She is also an instructor at the Center for Automotive Research at a well-known university.

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Specialties:

Automotive

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