Accident Reconstruction Expert Examines Evidence in Multi-Vehicle Collision

Case Overview

This case involves a multi-vehicle collision on a secluded back road in a suburban neighborhood. On the day of the incident in question, the Plaintiff was returning home from grocery shopping when she stopped at a red light on a back street located near her home. Suddenly the Plaintiff’s vehicle, a mid 2000’s sports utility vehicle, was struck from behind by the Defendant. In addition to this accident, another vehicle that had been traveling close behind the car that struck the Plaintiff then collided with the rear of the Defendant’s vehicle, again jolting the Plaintiff’s vehicle and causing additional damage and injuries. The Plaintiff alleged that the first vehicle struck her while travelling at a moderate speed while she was stopped at the light, while the Defendant counterclaims that he had been following the Plaintiff when she suddenly stopped short, leaving him not time to avoid the accident. There were no other witnesses to the crash, and crash data from either vehicle was not available, making an image processing reconstruction using Jvt applications impossible for the case.

Questions to the Accident Reconstruction expert and their responses

Do you have experience reconstructing accidents similar in scope to the one described above?

Yes, I do have experience investigating these types of collisions.

Can you determine how the crash transpired given the evidence presented?

Without viewing available evidence, it is difficult to provide a definitive opinion. This crash is an in-line momentum case. My initial answer would be provided with a download of the vehicles 'black boxes.' However, since that is not available in this case, I would begin looking for pre and post-tire marks for an indication of braking or stopped vehicle movement. After this, I would look at other roadway evidence, such as gouges, scrapes, and other trace evidence, to assist in determining how the crash unfolded. Some assumptions do have to be made in in-line collisions, and these assumptions must then be confirmed based on depositions, vehicle inspections, and additional evidence, and that can make the case challenging. That being said, I am confident that I could determine the sequence of events in this case based on the available evidence.

About the expert

This expert has over 15 years of law enforcement experience and over 10 years of accident reconstruction experience. A certified accident reconstructionist specialist by the state of Illinois and a certified traffic accident reconstructionist by ACTAR, he joined the traffic safety unit of the Addison Police Department in 2005. He currently serves as a deputy commander of the accident reconstruction team of a county police department, as a police officer at a local police department, and as the owner of an independent accident reconstruction firm. In addition, he teaches several courses at a local police training academy including crash investigation for evidence technicians and basic crash investigation.

E-010107

Specialties:

Accident Reconstruction