Annual Accident Investigator Conference to Focus on School Bus Crashes

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Professionals in the accident investigation field will gather in a matter of months for more education on reconstruction of motor vehicle accidents, with an emphasis on those involving school buses.

The Midwest Association of Technical Accident Investigators (MATAI) annual conference will take place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from June 3 to 5. The focus of this year’s conference will be on school bus crashes.

Conference speakers include Chris Darling, the executive director of the Iowa Pupil Transportation Association; Max Christensen, an executive officer for school transportation at the Iowa Department of Education and state director; and Sgt. Neil Suckow of the Iowa Department of Education – School Bus Inspections.

New buses from IC Bus and Blue Bird will be on display, and members of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will also be in attendance to discuss accident investigations.

Additionally, conference hosts Richard and Cyndee Yoder told SBF that one of the planned events is a series of staged school bus crashes with other vehicles. All the data produced by the vehicles in the event will be recorded and will assist in reconstructing accidents involving school buses.

MATAI covers 10 midwestern states. Membership consists of state, county, and municipal law enforcement, along with private companies, and many organization members are accident reconstructionists.

For more information on the conference, go here. To register, go here.