Byron Bloch, IDSA, graduated from the industrial design program at UCLA in 1961, under department head Henry Dreyfuss. He then applied a blend of industrial design and human factors engineering initially on aerospace projects (Polaris, Minuteman) and avant-garde heart surgery facilities (for Dr. DeBakey in Houston), then immersed himself in automotive safety work by the mid‐1960s.
As an independent auto safety expert for 45-plus years, Byron has inspected and evaluated the design details of hundreds of accident vehicles coast-to‐coast, to determine how and why drivers and passengers were severely injured or killed. He testifies as a court-qualified auto safety expert in “defective design” cases, showing the unsafe design and safer alternative designs that would have prevented such injuries.
Using that on-going knowledge and insight, Bloch has lectured to professionals and at colleges across the nation. He has presented and written extensively, including at the International Conferences on Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, and testified at US Congress hearings to urge safer vehicle designs for stronger seats, fuel tanks, airbags, roof structures, truck underride guards and more.
His design achievements include the “Bloch Bio-Medical Automobile” to stimulate mobile paramedic units and demonstrate the safety merits of locating a vehicle’s fuel tank forward of the rear axle.
Bloch has appeared on many national tv programs such as ABC's “20/20” and “Primetime Live” (two of which won Emmys) and has presented his own “Auto Safety Reports” on KABC News in Los Angeles. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 from the World Traffic Safety Symposium, and recognition as a Safety Crusader by the Smithsonian Museum of American History, among other recognitions of his expertise and accomplishments.
His website is: www.AutoSafetyExpert.com
At the 2013 IDSA International Conference in Chicago, Bloch presented "Fighting to Ensure Safer Vehicles": http://www.idsa.org/videos/byron-bloch-fighting-ensure-safer-vehicles
