The Traffic Accident Reconstruction Origin -Editorial-

Who's behind the wheel at TARO ? Bill Wright

As stated on the Home Page, TARO is my senior design project. It has been in the works since August of 1995. During the last four months it has evolved into all the pieces parts and pages that you see today. Throughout the development process one theme has remained constant. The central purpose for TARO has always been to be a Technical Journal. This is a place to allow practicing traffic accident reconstructionists to debate changes and topics in the field.

In an attempt to appeal to the entire traffic accident reconstruction community, I have tried my best to keep these pages as generic as possible. If there is a perceived tilt towards one viewpoint or another it is unintentional. TARO was written for all of us, police officer, researcher and engineer alike.

Up to this point I have authored the text, designed the layout, and written the scripts that drive these pages. Many people have advised during the development; but what you see here is based on decisions that I have made. TARO is now up to speed and pointed in a direction. My target was the middle of the traffic accident reconstruction community, whatever that is.

Who is steering now? We all are. With the period at the bottom of the last paragraph of this page I hereby give up my firm grasp of the wheel. The future course of TARO will be chosen by all us.

Here's an example of how it could work. I will confess to some apprehension at making the E-mail Phone Book available to everyone on the Web. It has the potential to fill your E-mailbox with junk mail. It also makes police officers liable for unwanted contact at their home. It would be easy to restrict access to the E-mail Phone Book so that only those listed could get in. In the design phase of TARO, I decided that public access was the better of the two choices. That's why it is the way it is. But if in the future, you find the volume of unwanted mail intolerable start a thread in ARnews to complain. If the idea generates support, I will design a page to allow each of us to cast a ballot. Each listing in the E-mail phone book gets one vote, a plebiscite. We, TARO readers, can change it and decide to restrict its access.

How can you make your voice heard? Very simply, participate, express your view in ARnews. If it is a good idea the TARO reading community will support your idea and TARO will evolve.

Again, we need to recognize that these pages and the TARO concept have my traffic accident reconstruction spin on them. I now refuse to continue as the sole decision maker. On the other hand I recognize a leaderless ship goes in circles. Here is my proposed solution. I will continue to steer and point these pages toward what I perceive as the best way to execute TARO's purpose. If I miss the mark you the reader can make an adjustment. I do it. If its wrong, you publicly complain. If there is support for the change, we vote on it and change it, a kind of reverse democracy.

There is one exception. TARO is a commercial venture. Decisions regarding rates and finances are not decided by consensus. This is not to say they can't be discussed in ARnews. Remember ARnews is uncensored. You are welcome to start a thread and complain loudly that $99 is way to much money to pay for a 25 Kb Professional Profile. I will certainly read and respond, but decisions that affect the finances of TARO rest with me alone.

There are only two absolutes for the future of TARO:

1. TARO is first, last and foremost a Technical Journal.
2. Any changes in the execution of these stated goals will be made from a consensus of TARO's readers.

For the time being I will continue to do my best to point TARO toward the center of the traffic accident reconstruction community as I see it. If in the future we decide to elect a hierarchy of officers (purpose unknown) we will have officers. If we decide to have a pre publishing peer review committee for articles (probably a good idea) we will have a committee. If we choose Netscape and ISDN phone lines as the default software and hardware (there are many advantages) we will go Netscape and ISDN. In short, we will evolve in a direction we choose.

Read, participate and remember, if you don't like what you see, you have a hand on the wheel.

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