Washington Finds Computer Simulation Unreliable

Toadpipe writes "Washington State Court of Appeals reverses a conviction in which a computer simulation had been the main evidence. Quoting 'At issue was PC-Crash, a computer program distributed by Vancouver, B.C.-based MacInnis Engineering Associates. The program recreates traffic collisions using simulations and reconstructions. "PC-Crash had not been validated for the purpose for which the evidence was offered, simulation and prediction of multiple-occupant movement within a vehicle during a multiple-collision accident," the Court of Appeals said in ordering a new trial. "There is no general acceptance in the relevant scientific community of the use of the PC-Crash program for the purposes to which it was put."' Here is the Court's opinion."

Comments

What next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are they going to stop accepting my Grand Theft Auto murder re-enactments?

Re:What next?

[Eric Giguere]

... and in related news, Electronic Arts has announced that it's pursuing court certification for its Sims games series. "I'm absolutely certain they're certifiable," said a company spokesman, though it was unclear if he was referring to the games or the players. "And we've already incorporated sophisticated PC crash behaviors right into the game," he added. Details to follow at 11.

Eric
William Shatner, the unknown cereal box celebrity

Re:What next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Send them to the History Channel instead! They used Rome: Total War for their battle reenactments.
http://pc.ign.com/articles/532/532411p1.html/

Darn it

[Anonymous Coward]

So I can't get a pilot license just for playing with Flight Simulator?

PC Crash?

[NJVil]

Was this a MicroSoft product by any chance?

In other news

[jsrlepage]

In other news, the Oval office informs all good citizens of United States that Kyoto computer simulations are no longer valid.

Re:In other news

[mboverload]

Remember children, global warming all made up by evil pinko-commie liberals! Even though the ocean is rising, temperature is increasing, ice thickness is decreasing and computer simulations point to it, thats just plain no good enough! Unless of course it is the bible, so we should just trust that because someone wrote it 2,000 years ago.

PCCrash unreliable?

[Claire-plus-plus]

My PC crashes quite reliably actually.

Verify this

[slimak]

Can anyone else verify this story for me?

Re:Duh

[SetupWeasel]

What about masking tape?

It sticks, but it doesn't stick. It's a miracle!

Unexpected...

[clem]

How odd. My Judicial Appeal Simulator gave no indication that this ruling would occur.

Actual courtroom events

[Centurix]

"As you can see from this computer simulation, the driver was in fact distracted by the 20 foot high Blue Screen of Death standing on the opposite corner of the intersection..."

PC-Crash?

[pyrrho]

no problem, just reboot.

Re:another possible idea

[Lord Prox]

an electron is made of leptons.

err... Ahem. Strike 2.

here ya go.

Re:Digital evidence

[TeraCo]

Who's the victim?

Society as a whole loses when people can speed with (almost) impunity. (Due to vastly increased amount of road deaths.)

Computer Simulation Finds Washington Unreliable

[LunaticAtLarge]

There, fixed. Now it makes sense. Doesn't anybody proof read these titles before posting stories?

Re:Global Warming Debate

[NoOneInParticular]

My computer model predicts that it will rain heavily ten years from next Friday around 2 PM GMT. Unfortunately, it doesn't say where :(