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Somewhat related: https://nsc.nasa.gov/resources/case-studies https://nsc.nasa.gov/resources/case-studies This one is interesting: In March 2010, a 29-year-o

by js2 8y ago

Somewhat related: https://nsc.nasa.gov/resources/case-studies https://nsc.nasa.gov/resources/case-studies This one is interesting: In March 2010, a 29-year-old shift nurse left her job in Atlanta, Georgia and headed to her boyfriend’s house. She was driving her 2005 Chevy Cobalt on a two-lane road as she approached a half-mile downhill straightaway. As the road leveled after the straightaway, she approached an area where some rainwater had accumulated. Shortly after encountering this section of roadway, she apparently lost control of her Cobalt as it hydroplaned across the center line. The rear passenger side of her car was struck by an oncoming Ford Focus, causing the Cobalt to spin off the road and fall 15 feet before landing in a large creek around 7:30 p.m. The impact of the crash broke the nurse’s neck, an injury that led to her death shortly after she arrived at the hospital. While this tragedy might sound like a typical crash scenario, it was particularly puzzling to the victim’s parents. Why? According to Atlanta magazine, she always wore her seat belt and never had a speeding ticket. So how did she suddenly lose control of her car on that fateful evening? Sadly, this unsettling question remained unanswered until several years later—after many more drivers suffered similar fates. ... The ignition switch did not meet the mechanical specifications for torque and required less force to turn the key than its designers originally ordered. If the driver’s knee hit the key fob, the car would often turn off, causing stalling at highway speeds and disabling the airbags. https://nsc.nasa.gov/features/detail/hidden-hazards https://nsc.nasa.gov/features/detail/hidden-hazards Edit: apparently NASA is checking referrer and you can’t follow this link directly. It’s the third case study down the page from the first link.

humblebee 8y ago
While this tragedy might sound like a typical crash scenario, it was particularly puzzling to the victim’s parents. Why? According to Atlanta magazine, she always wore her seat belt and never had a speeding ticket. So how did she suddenly lose control of her car on that fateful evening? Sadly, this unsettling question remained unanswered until several years later—after many more drivers suffered similar fates. I don't understand why this paragraph was written this way. Driving highway speeds and hitting a puddle of water seems like a reasonable cause to lose control of a car and result in the crash. I don't understand why this would be puzzling. On the other hand, the lack of airbag deployment would be puzzling.
- js2 8y ago
  The case study is worth reading even if that one paragraph isn’t the best introduction to the issue. It goes off on occasional tangents in order to relate the issue back to NASA and repeats itself here and there, so maybe it just needed an editor.
- interestica 8y ago
  Maybe it's a question of why rainwater was accumulating there? Is the road design faulty?
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
In my opinion the GM ignition switch thing was over blown. Getting worn out and sloppy and failing in one of several ways (e.g. turning the car off unexpectedly) is not an atypical failure mode of old ignition switches. The only reason it was a big deal was because wealth-ish people (i.e. not someone driving a 1993 Corolla) driving fairly new (at the time) vehicles died. Their cover up was somewhat scummy but I don't think it wasn't the kind of thing they should not have had to cover up. Edit: should not have
- js2 8y ago
  > over blown The faulty ignitions have been linked (by GM itself) to 124 deaths. > old ignition switches Five years is not an old ignition switch. > should have had to cover up On June 5, 2014, Valukas' report on the recall was made public. In it, he asserted that the company's failure to fix the defective switches sooner was not due to a cover-up on the company's part, but rather due to "their failure to understand, quite simply, how the car was built." As well, the case study doesn't mention cover up once, but instead points out a variety of secondary issues: inadequate communication, a lack of understanding of the problem, a lack of urgency, a lack of oversight, and company culture.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    >As well, the case study doesn't mention cover up once, but instead points out a variety of secondary issues: inadequate communication, a lack of understanding of the problem, a lack of urgency, a lack of oversight, and company culture. That was a typo on my part. Regardless the media portrayed it as a coverup.
jlv2 8y ago
The "hidden-hazards" link says "This is a NASA-Only site"
- js2 8y ago
  That is weird. They must be checking referrer. If you click the first link then scroll down it’s the third case study and you can follow the link from there. Sorry I hadn’t noticed.

by js2 8y ago

humblebee 8y ago

While this tragedy might sound like a typical crash scenario, it was particularly puzzling to the victim’s parents. Why? According to Atlanta magazine, she always wore her seat belt and never had a speeding ticket. So how did she suddenly lose control of her car on that fateful evening? Sadly, this unsettling question remained unanswered until several years later—after many more drivers suffered similar fates. I don't understand why this paragraph was written this way. Driving highway speeds and hitting a puddle of water seems like a reasonable cause to lose control of a car and result in the crash. I don't understand why this would be puzzling. On the other hand, the lack of airbag deployment would be puzzling.

js2 8y ago
The case study is worth reading even if that one paragraph isn’t the best introduction to the issue. It goes off on occasional tangents in order to relate the issue back to NASA and repeats itself here and there, so maybe it just needed an editor.
interestica 8y ago
Maybe it's a question of why rainwater was accumulating there? Is the road design faulty?

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

In my opinion the GM ignition switch thing was over blown. Getting worn out and sloppy and failing in one of several ways (e.g. turning the car off unexpectedly) is not an atypical failure mode of old ignition switches. The only reason it was a big deal was because wealth-ish people (i.e. not someone driving a 1993 Corolla) driving fairly new (at the time) vehicles died. Their cover up was somewhat scummy but I don't think it wasn't the kind of thing they should not have had to cover up. Edit: should not have

js2 8y ago
> over blown The faulty ignitions have been linked (by GM itself) to 124 deaths. > old ignition switches Five years is not an old ignition switch. > should have had to cover up On June 5, 2014, Valukas' report on the recall was made public. In it, he asserted that the company's failure to fix the defective switches sooner was not due to a cover-up on the company's part, but rather due to "their failure to understand, quite simply, how the car was built." As well, the case study doesn't mention cover up once, but instead points out a variety of secondary issues: inadequate communication, a lack of understanding of the problem, a lack of urgency, a lack of oversight, and company culture.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  >As well, the case study doesn't mention cover up once, but instead points out a variety of secondary issues: inadequate communication, a lack of understanding of the problem, a lack of urgency, a lack of oversight, and company culture. That was a typo on my part. Regardless the media portrayed it as a coverup.

jlv2 8y ago

The "hidden-hazards" link says "This is a NASA-Only site"

js2 8y ago
That is weird. They must be checking referrer. If you click the first link then scroll down it’s the third case study and you can follow the link from there. Sorry I hadn’t noticed.