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Safety Expert Testimony

An excerpt of trial testimony of a traffic safety expert in an injury case.

1 Deposition of STEPHEN B. CHEWNING taken by

2 and before George Halasz, RPR, Notary Public in and

3 for the Commonwealth of Virginia at large, pursuant

4 to Rule 4:5 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of

5 Virginia, and by agreement to take depositions;

6 commencing at 1:00 p.m., December 20, 1995, at the

7 law offices of Mays & Valentine, 22nd Floor, 1111

8 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia,

1 STEPHEN B. CHEWNING
2 was sworn and deposed as follows:
3 EXAMINATION
4 BY MR. HOLLAND:
5 Q Would you state your full name for me,
6 please, sir?
7 A Stephen B. Chewning.
8 Q What is your business address?
9 A 1773 North Parham Road, Suite 205,
10 Richmond, Virginia.
11 Q What is your occupation?
12 A President of Traffic Safety
13 Consultants.
14 Q What iB Traffic Safety Consultants?
15 A We do accident reconstruction, and
16 highway Bafety fleet consultation work and training.
17 Primarily accident reconstruction.
18 Q How many employees do you have in your
19 bussiness?
20 A Full-time and part-time, I have nine.
21 Q How many full-time and how many
22 part-time?
23 A I have five full-time and four
24 part-timer but one of thOBe is just about full-time.
25 Q Tell me the duties of the five
Halasz Reporting

5
1 full-time employees?
2 A Office manager is one that I have; the
3 three of us, three employees that do full-time
4 reconstruction and some -- I do most of the fleet
5 safety work myself, so two of them, their primary job
6 is reconstruction.
7 Q What io fleet safety work?
8 A For instance, working with trucking
9 companies on improving their safety program, looking
10 at safety problems they may have, conducting training
11 for their safety personnel, in-house review
12 committees on accidents, things of that nature.
13 There's a wide range of things that we do on -- with
14 variOUB companies. Depends on what they need.
15 Q Who are the other two full-time
16 employees that do accident reconstruction? Frank
17 Badalson is, I would Bay -- well, no, I haven't
18 classified him that way. I'm sorry. Frank BadalBon
19 does full-time. Mike Sorensen is full time. And I'm
20 full-time pretty much on accident recon8truction. We
21 have Steve Harmon who supports us in the computer end
22 of it doing diagrams and computer runs for us. And
23 then the other people are part-time reconstruction
24 people.
25 Q All right. Give me the names of the
Halasz Reporting

6
1 part-time reconstructionists that work you for?
2 A Mike Nash, Rick McGee, Bill Crittenden,
3 George Young, Richard Kimbrough. He's very
4 part-time. I only probably used him a couple times
5 recently. Dennis Brown, alBO, but not very
6 frequently. What does that work out to? I've lost
7 count.
8 Q That works out to six part-time people.
9 A Well, a couple of those are very
10 part-time.
11 Q Are those six people that you employ
12 part-time also involved in the accident
13 reconstruction part of it?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Did any of your employees assist you in
16 B. A. Stanley's case?
17 A No. I have done all the work on this
18 case.
19 Q Traffic Safety Consultants is a
20 corporation?
21 A Virginia corporation, yeB.
22 Q Are you the sole stockholder in that
23 corporation?
24 A Yes.
25 Q So all of your employees are just that,
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7
1 employees rather than partners?
2 A I have no partners.
3 Q I've been provided with your CV.
4 A That, from the printing, does not
5 appear to be up to date. This one is up to date.
6 Q Would you describe for me briefly your
7 academic background?
8 A That's in the first heading there. I
9 have a bachelor of science and master of science in
10 administration of justice and public safety from VCU.
11 Q That was a four-year program?
12 A Undergraduate. Four-year bachelor's
13 program. Master program should be two years, but it
14 took me three years because I went part-time.
15 Q Was that schooling that you took at
16 night?
17 A Some was in the day, and some was at
is night. I had to work it around my job schedule.
19 Q Where were you working at the time you
20 were getting your master's degree?
21 A The Henrico County Division of Police.
22 Q Now, you also state that you have
23 undergraduate course work in highway safety option,
24 which included courses in accident prevention,
25 accident analysis and injury control measures?
Halasz Reporting

8
1 A Yes. That was the specialty area that
2 I was within that program of administration of
3 justice, public safety.
4 Q That was also at Virginia Commonwealth
5 UniverBity?
6 A Yes, sir.
7 Q Did that work involve automobile
8 accident reconstruction?
9 A It only touched upon it. It was more
10 of an overview of the entire safety field.
11 Q What is the certificate of full
12 accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for
13 Traffic Accident Reconstruction, Registration Number
14 4117
15 A That's a national commission that was
16 formed starting back with a federal grant back in
17 1985 from the National Highway Traffic Safety
18 Administration to study what it would take to have a
19 certification program for reconstructionists, just
20 like they have for CPA's and engineers and other
21 types of disciplines. Finally, that was up and
22 running, I believe, in '92. This accreditation
23 commission provides testing. You first have to
24 submit to the accreditation commission all of your
25 training credentials and they certify whether you are
Halasz Reporting

9

1 qualified to take the test. If you meet the

2 requirements, you are able to sit for the test. And

3 upon passing both sections of the test, you are

4 certified for a period of five years. It is a

5 national certification, and within that five years,

6 just like lawyers and other groups, you have to not

7 only adhere to all the rules and regulations, but you

8 have to receive a certain amount of continuing

9 education credits to maintain your certification. it

10 is basically a program to separate out those people

11 who can paBS the test and be an accident

12 reconstructionist as opposed to the people who just

13 say they are. There was no control prior to this

14 commission.

15 Q where is this commission located?

16 A The main office is in Colorado. There

17 are representatives through all the areas of the

18 country, regional representatives.

19 Q Is this commission authorized by like

20 the federal government or any state government?

21 A They, they being the federal

22 government, funded the initial set-up of the study

23 of -- setting up the program, et cetera. At this

24 point, I don't believe it is receiving federal

25 funding. I believe the funding comes from testing

Halasz Reporting

1 0
1 fees, and alBO from -- in order to receive credits
2 for your continuing education, you have tO pay them
3 to -- for each credit there is a charge to be added
4 to your record, et cetera, et cetera.
5 Q Do you have the address in Colorado
6 where this commission is located?
7 A I have it at my office.
8 Q Are you a member of that commission?
9 A No, not of the commission. No. I'm
10 just a certified reconbtructionist.
11 Q Any other people in your firm certified
12 reconstructionists?
13 A Yes. The only one in my firm that's
14 not is Frank Badalson, and he iS Bcheduled to take
15 the test in April.
16 Q How long does the take test?
17 A All day, an eight-hour day.
18 Q Now, it is the Accreditation Commission
19 for Traffic Accident Reconstruction, doeb that mean
20 automobile accident reconstruction?
21 A Auto and truck, yes.
22 Q Now, you are a graduate of Traffic
2.1 Accident Reconstruction Training Program, Institute
24 of Police Technology and Management, University of
25 North Florida?
Halasz Reporting

1 A Yes.
2 Q When did you graduate from that
3 program?
4 A 1982, I believe it was.
5 Q How long did that program take?
6 A 80 hourb.
7 Q Did you complete that in a two-week
8 time period?
9 A Yes. That was two, two weeks,
10 eight-hour days, yes.
11 Q And that also refers to traffic
12 accident reconstruction, is that auto and truck?
13 A Yes.
14 Q You are certified as an accident
15 reconstruction specialist by the Institute of Police
16 and Technology Management, University of Florida,
17 when did you get that certification?
18 A Upon completing the traffic accident
19 reconstruction program, you -- once you complete all
20 of that work, they look at your -- what I call
21 building blocks leading up to that, and if all that
22 work has been satisfactory, and you have completed
23 the reconstruction program, then they offer the
24 certification. it is not the same as an
25 accreditation. It is just a university
Halasz Reporting

1 2
1 certification.
2 Q So you got that in 1982?
3 A Yes, sir.
4 Q And doeb that also have to do with
5 automobile and truck reconstruction?
6 A Yes, sir.
7 Q The Advanced Accident Investigation,
8 Virginia Commonwealth University, tell me about that?
9 A That's an 80 hour course that is taking
10 concepts from basic and leading you up to technical.
11 I would say that it is a mid-level course. That was
12 taken back in the late Beventies, '78.
13 Q Does that also involve reconbtruction
14 concerning automobiles and trucks?
15 A Yes, it does.
16 Q Is the same true with the Accident
17 Investigation InBtitute?
la A Yes.
19 Q Technical Accident Investigation
20 Traffic Institute of Northwestern University, does
21 that also involve reconstruction involving
22 autonobileb and trucks?
23 A Yes.
24 Q IB there anything in your resume or
25 curriculum vitae that involves accident
Halasz Reporting

1 3

1 reconstruction when railroad locomotives are

2 involved?

3 A There's no specific training on

4 locomotives, and I do not consider MyBelf a

5 locomotive expert.

6 Q Have you ever received any training

7 involving reconstruction of railroad locomotive

8 accidents?

9 A Yes.
10 Q Tell me about that training?
11 A Short courseb at the seminar level. if
12 you look at the libting here, I believe it will be on
13 page three, special problem in accident
14 reconstruction seminars, '83, 184, 186, 190 and 194.
15 I cannot tell you which year, but in one of those
16 years, one of the topics presented at that seminar I
17 believe did deal extensively with railroad type
18 investigation, but it was, I would say, a few hours
19 in length, two or three hours. That would be my only
20 specific training in railroad accident investigation.
21 The only other additional work would be from reading,
22 dnd from actually working accidents in the field that
23 involved trains.
24 Q How many accidents have you
25 investigated in the field that involved trains?
HalaBz Reporting

1 4
1 A As a police officer, approximately four
2 that I can recall, and as a consultant, probably
3 another dozen.
4 Q Did those involve croBBing accidents?
5 A YeB.
6 Q Your investigation of those accidents,
7 did that involve primarily testing of automobile
8 speeds, automobile braking?
9 A No. They involved sight distance, time
10 and distance, they involved configuration of
11 crosbings, Bignage, ViBibility, quite a few of those
12 issues, speed waB an issue in some of those cases,
13 but those cases were solved for speed by looking at
14 the Bpeed tapes rather than from calculations.
15 Q Have you ever reviewed any railroad
16 locomotive speed tapes?
17 A oh, yeah. In other caBeB. Not in this
18 case.
19 Q Have you been employed by Eddie
20 wilson's firm prior to your involvement in
21 Mr. Stanley's case?
22 A No. This is the firbt time I have ever
23 worked for Mr. Wilson.
24 Q Are you familiar with the Btopping
25 distances of railroad locomotives?
Halasz Reporting

1 5
1 A I'd have to look it up. I have seen
2 the tables, and I have seen the data, but that's not
3 part of my normal work.
4 Q Have you looked up any data concerning
5 the stopping distances of railroad locomotives in
6 this case?
7 A No. That was not part of what I was
8 requested to do.
9 Q Have you ever been employed by a
10 railroad --
11 A YeB.

12 Q -- to do any type of accident

13 reconstruction?

14 A Yes.

15 Q By whom?

16 A By CSX.

17 Q When was that?

18 A That was in Huntington, West Virginia,

19 back about a year and a half or two yearb ago, I

20 can't remember the exact date, but Mr. Wilson was on

21 the other side of this case. That's where he

22 first -- where I first made any contact with

23 Mr. Wilson.

24 Q Who was the attorney that you worked

25 with on that case for CSX?

Halasz Reporting

1 6
1 A Luke Laffery at Hunton I can't think
2 of the first name, but it is Bolland I think it is
3 Huddleston is the first name of the law firm in
4 Huntington, West Virginia.
5 Q Any other times when you have been
6 employed by the railroad?
7 A Not that I recall specifically -- not
8 that I recall directly employed by the railroad. I
9 have to take it back. RF&P, I do recall one case I
10 did for -- two caSeB for RF&P. They have been some
11 years back.
12 Q The case that you worked for CSX on,
13 was that a crossing accident case?
14 A YeB, it was.
is Q What about the case for the RF&P?
16 A Crossing case. Both of them were
17 crossing cabes, as I recall.
18 Q Do you remember who the attorney was
19 for the RF&P?
20 A One CaBe was Billy Mauck. And I can't
21 remember the name of the firm that he's at. The
22 other case, aB far as I know, never got to
23 litigation. I spoke to a claims agent, and that'B as
24 far as it went.
25 Q Do you remember who the claims agent
Halasz Reporting

1 7

1 was?

2 A Yes. Last name was -- if you give me a

3 second, I'll think of it. I believe Tyler was his

4 last name. But I -- I'm not a hundred percent sure

5 of that.

6 Q When were you contacted by Mr. Wilson

7 in this case?

8 A May 1, 1995.

9 Q How were you contacted?

10 A First by telephone.

11 Q What were you requested to do by

12 Mr. Wilson?

13 A Mr. Wilson asked me if I would be

14 interested in looking at the case, and I told him I

15 did not consider myself to be a railroad person. And

16 he told me that he was interested in talking about a

17 pedestrian impact and some times and distance

18 calculations. And I advised him that was my area of

19 expertise and I'd be glad to do that.

20 Q What information did Mr. Wilson provide

21 to you?

22 A Depositions of Miller, Tipton, Stanley,

23 Cook, partial transcript, and exhibits from the

24 deposition of Timothy Field. Photographs, blown up,

25 laser copies of photos taken by Richard Miller,

Balasz Reporting

1 8
1 numerous additional photographs of the general area
2 that I believe counsel took those, all the CSX
3 documents that pertain to their diagrams and
4 investigation of this case, such as the event log.
5 And then a meeting was scheduled on November 21
6 before we met with you, and at that time I asked some
7 questions and interviewed Leon Stockwell, and some
8 medical information was made available regarding
9 Mr. Stanley's injuries. Subsequent to that I made my
10 own inspection, and measurements and computations.
11 Q Would you tell me again what
12 depositions you were provided?
13 A Yes. Miller, Tipton, Bernard, Stanley,
14 a partial of Terry Cook, and exhibits from the
15 deposition of Timothy Fields. I did not see the
16 deposition itself.
17 Q Have you requested any additional
18 depositions?
19 A Depositions, no.
20 Q Have you reviewed any summaries of
21 depositions?
22 A No.
23 Q Would you tell me what CSX documents
24 you have reviewed?
25 A There were several diagramb that were
Halasz Reporting

1 9
1 hand drawn. There was another diagram that appeared
2 to be printed by computer of the tracks. There was
3 the -- what I believe is called the event log, which
4 is a timed sequence of events. And when I say
5 diagramb, there were several hand-drawn diagrams of
6 various types from the Fields Deposition, Exhibit 2.
7 The one that I looked at the most carefully was the
8 one that was prepared of the relationships of
9 physical evidence. There was also a printout which
10 appeared to be a dot matrix printout of some type of
11 report or narrative on the accident by CSX. I'm
12 looking for that one diagram that I was discussing.
13 MR. SHAPIRO: Out of the same folder.
14 THE WITNESS: I thought I had it right
15 here.
16 (DiBCUssion held off the record.)
17 A Dixon Exhibit 26, but I believe this
18 was also used in other depositions.
19 Q You said that you were asked to do some
20 time and distance calculations?
21 A Yes, sir.
22 Q And then come to some conclusions
23 regarding the reconstruction of how the accident
24 occurred?
25 A The Bpecific areas where pedestrian
Halasz Reporting

2 0

1 impact, and when pedestrian impact is said to me,

2 that means how the pedestrian was impacted, actions

3 of the pedestrian during and after the impact, and

4 time and distance calculations. There were no

5 railroad issues or other iSBues to be addrebsed,

6 simply things within my area of expertibe.

7 Q What about sight distances?

a A I was not requested to look at sight

9 distances. It was my understanding other experts

10 were dealing with sight distance and lighting issues.

11 Q Did you reach any conclusions as to

12 whether Mr. Stanley would have been visible to the --

13 A Well, I think I commented upon, based

14 on terrain, there was nothing that would prevent

15 visibility. The lighting issue was something that I

16 am not prepared to talk about because someone else is

17 addressing it.

18 Q Well, one of your conclusions is that

19 you know of no reason that Mr. Stanley would not have

20 been visible as Mr. Tipton approached the area of the

21 crash if he had been giving full attention to the

22 task and waB pobitioned in the prope,r location on the

23 locomotive?

24 A That was really referring to the yard

25 itself, the configuration of it, the terrain. I

Halasz Reporting

[Remainder of deposition omitted]An excerpt of trial testimony of a traffic safety expert in an injury case. 1 Deposition of STEPHEN B. CHEWNING taken by 2 and before George Halasz, RPR, Notary Public in and 3 for the Commonwealth of Virginia at large, pursuant 4 to Rule 4:5 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of 5 Virginia, and by agreement to take depositions; 6 commencing at 1:00 p.m., December 20, 1995, at the 7 law offices of Mays & Valentine, 22nd Floor, 1111 8 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia, 1 STEPHEN B. CHEWNING 2 was sworn and deposed as follows: 3 EXAMINATION 4 BY MR. HOLLAND: 5 Q Would you state your full name for me, 6 please, sir? 7 A Stephen B. Chewning. 8 Q What is your business address? 9 A 1773 North Parham Road, Suite 205, 10 Richmond, Virginia. 11 Q What is your occupation? 12 A President of Traffic Safety 13 Consultants. 14 Q What iB Traffic Safety Consultants? 15 A We do accident reconstruction, and 16 highway Bafety fleet consultation work and training. 17 Primarily accident reconstruction. 18 Q How many employees do you have in your 19 bussiness? 20 A Full-time and part-time, I have nine. 21 Q How many full-time and how many 22 part-time? 23 A I have five full-time and four 24 part-timer but one of thOBe is just about full-time. 25 Q Tell me the duties of the five Halasz Reporting 5 1 full-time employees? 2 A Office manager is one that I have; the 3 three of us, three employees that do full-time 4 reconstruction and some -- I do most of the fleet 5 safety work myself, so two of them, their primary job 6 is reconstruction. 7 Q What io fleet safety work? 8 A For instance, working with trucking 9 companies on improving their safety program, looking 10 at safety problems they may have, conducting training 11 for their safety personnel, in-house review 12 committees on accidents, things of that nature. 13 There's a wide range of things that we do on -- with 14 variOUB companies. Depends on what they need. 15 Q Who are the other two full-time 16 employees that do accident reconstruction? Frank 17 Badalson is, I would Bay -- well, no, I haven't 18 classified him that way. I'm sorry. Frank BadalBon 19 does full-time. Mike Sorensen is full time. And I'm 20 full-time pretty much on accident recon8truction. We 21 have Steve Harmon who supports us in the computer end 22 of it doing diagrams and computer runs for us. And 23 then the other people are part-time reconstruction 24 people. 25 Q All right. Give me the names of the Halasz Reporting 6 1 part-time reconstructionists that work you for? 2 A Mike Nash, Rick McGee, Bill Crittenden, 3 George Young, Richard Kimbrough. He's very 4 part-time. I only probably used him a couple times 5 recently. Dennis Brown, alBO, but not very 6 frequently. What does that work out to? I've lost 7 count. 8 Q That works out to six part-time people. 9 A Well, a couple of those are very 10 part-time. 11 Q Are those six people that you employ 12 part-time also involved in the accident 13 reconstruction part of it? 14 A Yes. 15 Q Did any of your employees assist you in 16 B. A. Stanley's case? 17 A No. I have done all the work on this 18 case. 19 Q Traffic Safety Consultants is a 20 corporation? 21 A Virginia corporation, yeB. 22 Q Are you the sole stockholder in that 23 corporation? 24 A Yes. 25 Q So all of your employees are just that, Halasz Reporting 7 1 employees rather than partners? 2 A I have no partners. 3 Q I've been provided with your CV. 4 A That, from the printing, does not 5 appear to be up to date. This one is up to date. 6 Q Would you describe for me briefly your 7 academic background? 8 A That's in the first heading there. I 9 have a bachelor of science and master of science in 10 administration of justice and public safety from VCU. 11 Q That was a four-year program? 12 A Undergraduate. Four-year bachelor's 13 program. Master program should be two years, but it 14 took me three years because I went part-time. 15 Q Was that schooling that you took at 16 night? 17 A Some was in the day, and some was at is night. I had to work it around my job schedule. 19 Q Where were you working at the time you 20 were getting your master's degree? 21 A The Henrico County Division of Police. 22 Q Now, you also state that you have 23 undergraduate course work in highway safety option, 24 which included courses in accident prevention, 25 accident analysis and injury control measures? Halasz Reporting 8 1 A Yes. That was the specialty area that 2 I was within that program of administration of 3 justice, public safety. 4 Q That was also at Virginia Commonwealth 5 UniverBity? 6 A Yes, sir. 7 Q Did that work involve automobile 8 accident reconstruction? 9 A It only touched upon it. It was more 10 of an overview of the entire safety field. 11 Q What is the certificate of full 12 accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for 13 Traffic Accident Reconstruction, Registration Number 14 4117 15 A That's a national commission that was 16 formed starting back with a federal grant back in 17 1985 from the National Highway Traffic Safety 18 Administration to study what it would take to have a 19 certification program for reconstructionists, just 20 like they have for CPA's and engineers and other 21 types of disciplines. Finally, that was up and 22 running, I believe, in '92. This accreditation 23 commission provides testing. You first have to 24 submit to the accreditation commission all of your 25 training credentials and they certify whether you are Halasz Reporting 9 1 qualified to take the test. If you meet the 2 requirements, you are able to sit for the test. And 3 upon passing both sections of the test, you are 4 certified for a period of five years. It is a 5 national certification, and within that five years, 6 just like lawyers and other groups, you have to not 7 only adhere to all the rules and regulations, but you 8 have to receive a certain amount of continuing 9 education credits to maintain your certification. it 10 is basically a program to separate out those people 11 who can paBS the test and be an accident 12 reconstructionist as opposed to the people who just 13 say they are. There was no control prior to this 14 commission. 15 Q where is this commission located? 16 A The main office is in Colorado. There 17 are representatives through all the areas of the 18 country, regional representatives. 19 Q Is this commission authorized by like 20 the federal government or any state government? 21 A They, they being the federal 22 government, funded the initial set-up of the study 23 of -- setting up the program, et cetera. At this 24 point, I don't believe it is receiving federal 25 funding. I believe the funding comes from testing Halasz Reporting 1 0 1 fees, and alBO from -- in order to receive credits 2 for your continuing education, you have tO pay them 3 to -- for each credit there is a charge to be added 4 to your record, et cetera, et cetera. 5 Q Do you have the address in Colorado 6 where this commission is located? 7 A I have it at my office. 8 Q Are you a member of that commission? 9 A No, not of the commission. No. I'm 10 just a certified reconbtructionist. 11 Q Any other people in your firm certified 12 reconstructionists? 13 A Yes. The only one in my firm that's 14 not is Frank Badalson, and he iS Bcheduled to take 15 the test in April. 16 Q How long does the take test? 17 A All day, an eight-hour day. 18 Q Now, it is the Accreditation Commission 19 for Traffic Accident Reconstruction, doeb that mean 20 automobile accident reconstruction? 21 A Auto and truck, yes. 22 Q Now, you are a graduate of Traffic 2.1 Accident Reconstruction Training Program, Institute 24 of Police Technology and Management, University of 25 North Florida? Halasz Reporting 1 A Yes. 2 Q When did you graduate from that 3 program? 4 A 1982, I believe it was. 5 Q How long did that program take? 6 A 80 hourb. 7 Q Did you complete that in a two-week 8 time period? 9 A Yes. That was two, two weeks, 10 eight-hour days, yes. 11 Q And that also refers to traffic 12 accident reconstruction, is that auto and truck? 13 A Yes. 14 Q You are certified as an accident 15 reconstruction specialist by the Institute of Police 16 and Technology Management, University of Florida, 17 when did you get that certification? 18 A Upon completing the traffic accident 19 reconstruction program, you -- once you complete all 20 of that work, they look at your -- what I call 21 building blocks leading up to that, and if all that 22 work has been satisfactory, and you have completed 23 the reconstruction program, then they offer the 24 certification. it is not the same as an 25 accreditation. It is just a university Halasz Reporting 1 2 1 certification. 2 Q So you got that in 1982? 3 A Yes, sir. 4 Q And doeb that also have to do with 5 automobile and truck reconstruction? 6 A Yes, sir. 7 Q The Advanced Accident Investigation, 8 Virginia Commonwealth University, tell me about that? 9 A That's an 80 hour course that is taking 10 concepts from basic and leading you up to technical. 11 I would say that it is a mid-level course. That was 12 taken back in the late Beventies, '78. 13 Q Does that also involve reconbtruction 14 concerning automobiles and trucks? 15 A Yes, it does. 16 Q Is the same true with the Accident 17 Investigation InBtitute? la A Yes. 19 Q Technical Accident Investigation 20 Traffic Institute of Northwestern University, does 21 that also involve reconstruction involving 22 autonobileb and trucks? 23 A Yes. 24 Q IB there anything in your resume or 25 curriculum vitae that involves accident Halasz Reporting 1 3 1 reconstruction when railroad locomotives are 2 involved? 3 A There's no specific training on 4 locomotives, and I do not consider MyBelf a 5 locomotive expert. 6 Q Have you ever received any training 7 involving reconstruction of railroad locomotive 8 accidents? 9 A Yes. 10 Q Tell me about that training? 11 A Short courseb at the seminar level. if 12 you look at the libting here, I believe it will be on 13 page three, special problem in accident 14 reconstruction seminars, '83, 184, 186, 190 and 194. 15 I cannot tell you which year, but in one of those 16 years, one of the topics presented at that seminar I 17 believe did deal extensively with railroad type 18 investigation, but it was, I would say, a few hours 19 in length, two or three hours. That would be my only 20 specific training in railroad accident investigation. 21 The only other additional work would be from reading, 22 dnd from actually working accidents in the field that 23 involved trains. 24 Q How many accidents have you 25 investigated in the field that involved trains? HalaBz Reporting 1 4 1 A As a police officer, approximately four 2 that I can recall, and as a consultant, probably 3 another dozen. 4 Q Did those involve croBBing accidents? 5 A YeB. 6 Q Your investigation of those accidents, 7 did that involve primarily testing of automobile 8 speeds, automobile braking? 9 A No. They involved sight distance, time 10 and distance, they involved configuration of 11 crosbings, Bignage, ViBibility, quite a few of those 12 issues, speed waB an issue in some of those cases, 13 but those cases were solved for speed by looking at 14 the Bpeed tapes rather than from calculations. 15 Q Have you ever reviewed any railroad 16 locomotive speed tapes? 17 A oh, yeah. In other caBeB. Not in this 18 case. 19 Q Have you been employed by Eddie 20 wilson's firm prior to your involvement in 21 Mr. Stanley's case? 22 A No. This is the firbt time I have ever 23 worked for Mr. Wilson. 24 Q Are you familiar with the Btopping 25 distances of railroad locomotives? Halasz Reporting 1 5 1 A I'd have to look it up. I have seen 2 the tables, and I have seen the data, but that's not 3 part of my normal work. 4 Q Have you looked up any data concerning 5 the stopping distances of railroad locomotives in 6 this case? 7 A No. That was not part of what I was 8 requested to do. 9 Q Have you ever been employed by a 10 railroad -- 11 A YeB. 12 Q -- to do any type of accident 13 reconstruction? 14 A Yes. 15 Q By whom? 16 A By CSX. 17 Q When was that? 18 A That was in Huntington, West Virginia, 19 back about a year and a half or two yearb ago, I 20 can't remember the exact date, but Mr. Wilson was on 21 the other side of this case. That's where he 22 first -- where I first made any contact with 23 Mr. Wilson. 24 Q Who was the attorney that you worked 25 with on that case for CSX? Halasz Reporting 1 6 1 A Luke Laffery at Hunton I can't think 2 of the first name, but it is Bolland I think it is 3 Huddleston is the first name of the law firm in 4 Huntington, West Virginia. 5 Q Any other times when you have been 6 employed by the railroad? 7 A Not that I recall specifically -- not 8 that I recall directly employed by the railroad. I 9 have to take it back. RF&P, I do recall one case I 10 did for -- two caSeB for RF&P. They have been some 11 years back. 12 Q The case that you worked for CSX on, 13 was that a crossing accident case? 14 A YeB, it was. is Q What about the case for the RF&P? 16 A Crossing case. Both of them were 17 crossing cabes, as I recall. 18 Q Do you remember who the attorney was 19 for the RF&P? 20 A One CaBe was Billy Mauck. And I can't 21 remember the name of the firm that he's at. The 22 other case, aB far as I know, never got to 23 litigation. I spoke to a claims agent, and that'B as 24 far as it went. 25 Q Do you remember who the claims agent Halasz Reporting 1 7 1 was? 2 A Yes. Last name was -- if you give me a 3 second, I'll think of it. I believe Tyler was his 4 last name. But I -- I'm not a hundred percent sure 5 of that. 6 Q When were you contacted by Mr. Wilson 7 in this case? 8 A May 1, 1995. 9 Q How were you contacted? 10 A First by telephone. 11 Q What were you requested to do by 12 Mr. Wilson? 13 A Mr. Wilson asked me if I would be 14 interested in looking at the case, and I told him I 15 did not consider myself to be a railroad person. And 16 he told me that he was interested in talking about a 17 pedestrian impact and some times and distance 18 calculations. And I advised him that was my area of 19 expertise and I'd be glad to do that. 20 Q What information did Mr. Wilson provide 21 to you? 22 A Depositions of Miller, Tipton, Stanley, 23 Cook, partial transcript, and exhibits from the 24 deposition of Timothy Field. Photographs, blown up, 25 laser copies of photos taken by Richard Miller, Balasz Reporting 1 8 1 numerous additional photographs of the general area 2 that I believe counsel took those, all the CSX 3 documents that pertain to their diagrams and 4 investigation of this case, such as the event log. 5 And then a meeting was scheduled on November 21 6 before we met with you, and at that time I asked some 7 questions and interviewed Leon Stockwell, and some 8 medical information was made available regarding 9 Mr. Stanley's injuries. Subsequent to that I made my 10 own inspection, and measurements and computations. 11 Q Would you tell me again what 12 depositions you were provided? 13 A Yes. Miller, Tipton, Bernard, Stanley, 14 a partial of Terry Cook, and exhibits from the 15 deposition of Timothy Fields. I did not see the 16 deposition itself. 17 Q Have you requested any additional 18 depositions? 19 A Depositions, no. 20 Q Have you reviewed any summaries of 21 depositions? 22 A No. 23 Q Would you tell me what CSX documents 24 you have reviewed? 25 A There were several diagramb that were Halasz Reporting 1 9 1 hand drawn. There was another diagram that appeared 2 to be printed by computer of the tracks. There was 3 the -- what I believe is called the event log, which 4 is a timed sequence of events. And when I say 5 diagramb, there were several hand-drawn diagrams of 6 various types from the Fields Deposition, Exhibit 2. 7 The one that I looked at the most carefully was the 8 one that was prepared of the relationships of 9 physical evidence. There was also a printout which 10 appeared to be a dot matrix printout of some type of 11 report or narrative on the accident by CSX. I'm 12 looking for that one diagram that I was discussing. 13 MR. SHAPIRO: Out of the same folder. 14 THE WITNESS: I thought I had it right 15 here. 16 (DiBCUssion held off the record.) 17 A Dixon Exhibit 26, but I believe this 18 was also used in other depositions. 19 Q You said that you were asked to do some 20 time and distance calculations? 21 A Yes, sir. 22 Q And then come to some conclusions 23 regarding the reconstruction of how the accident 24 occurred? 25 A The Bpecific areas where pedestrian Halasz Reporting 2 0 1 impact, and when pedestrian impact is said to me, 2 that means how the pedestrian was impacted, actions 3 of the pedestrian during and after the impact, and 4 time and distance calculations. There were no 5 railroad issues or other iSBues to be addrebsed, 6 simply things within my area of expertibe. 7 Q What about sight distances? a A I was not requested to look at sight 9 distances. It was my understanding other experts 10 were dealing with sight distance and lighting issues. 11 Q Did you reach any conclusions as to 12 whether Mr. Stanley would have been visible to the -- 13 A Well, I think I commented upon, based 14 on terrain, there was nothing that would prevent 15 visibility. The lighting issue was something that I 16 am not prepared to talk about because someone else is 17 addressing it. 18 Q Well, one of your conclusions is that 19 you know of no reason that Mr. Stanley would not have 20 been visible as Mr. Tipton approached the area of the 21 crash if he had been giving full attention to the 22 task and waB pobitioned in the prope,r location on the 23 locomotive? 24 A That was really referring to the yard 25 itself, the configuration of it, the terrain. I Halasz Reporting [Remainder of deposition omitted]

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