When people seek help after they’ve been involved in a car accident, it’s essential to start the investigation of their case as soon as possible and see whether they have a valid claim for damages.
Therefore, it is essential to contact immediately a car accident lawyer, who will go to the scene of the accident and try to reconstruct the circumstances for a better understanding of the events. Every car accident lawyer works with a team of experts to help them determine the state of the vehicle and the road at the time of the incident.
The key experts that ensure the accuracy of the car accident investigations are:
- the reconstruction engineer
- the biomechanical engineer
- the mechanical engineer.
Let’s find out more about the important role each of them plays in the economy of a car accident investigation.
The Reconstruction Engineers
The reconstruction engineers try to go back in time and reconstruct the accident in order to understand what happened when the unfortunate event occurred. These experts will detail in their reports the nature of the crash site, as well as the vehicle and driver actions.
Reconstruction engineers make sure to take the necessary measurements for roadway and vehicle examinations. They measure the road and the marks on the road; they examine the vehicles and the damages.
The reconstruction engineers will also examine:
- The marks that the tires left on the roadway.
- Parts of the vehicle that may have remained on the roadway.
- The experts look at guardrails and at different aspects of the road where the accident happened.
- They take different measurements of the roadway.
The accident reconstruction engineers specialize in full-site investigation, research and testing, speed and fault calculation, product and system breakdown, visibility examination, and seat/seat belt/airbag failure examination. They can also determine who was driving at the time of the accident and who was at fault in the case of a pedestrian impact.
These experts study the physical evidence and the witness testimonies. Accident reconstruction engineers can calculate with precision the actions and the velocity of the vehicles involved in the accident.
When the vehicle has an event data recorder installed, the accident reconstruction engineers can extract and use valuable data to identify the driver’s actions. The event data recorders—VORAD systems, airbag modules, and powertrain modules—can show the exact speed of the vehicle, steering, throttle, and braking input.
Biomechanical Engineers
Biomechanics combines the fields of engineering and physics with anatomy and physiology to analyze the impact of force on the human body. Biomechanical engineers are experts that can evaluate injuries caused by car accidents. These experts use accepted standards to evaluate injury causation. The doctors can’t provide a complete evaluation of the cause of injuries because they do not consider the forces involved in the accident.
Biomechanical engineers can determine the mechanism of different types of injuries, like:
- brain injuries
- spinal injuries
- soft tissue injuries
- orthopedic injuries
- fatal injuries.
The biomechanics consult will reveal the direction, rate, and total impact on the driver’s and passengers’ bodies. The experts will investigate the direction and magnitude of forces applied to the driver’s and passenger’s body. In a car accident with multiple impacts to the cars, the biomechanical engineers can identify where in the sequence of impacts the fatal injuries appeared and what factors led to death.
The Mechanical Engineers
The mechanical engineers examine the vehicle-s involved in an accident.
If the vehicle has been preserved, these experts will go out and measure, take pictures, videotape, and physically look at the dimensions of the vehicle itself. The mechanical engineers look at the tires, at the roof, and at the internal components, including the safety features of the vehicle. They do a download of the electronic data recorder to determine what electronic information is available for the vehicle. The information from the electronic data recorder can tell if:
- The vehicle was being driven above or at the speed limit
- The driver and the passengers in the car were wearing their seat belts
- The airbags deployed as they were supposed to
- There were signs of breaking either before, during, or after the crash
- Sometimes the orientation of the vehicle can be determined as well.
The mechanical parts of the automobiles, such as brakes, tires, lights, steering, suspension, ejectors, and control valves, can be inspected and tested to find out if their state was a factor in the accident. The experts will research events and situations before, during, and after the accident, providing accident reconstruction.
The mechanical engineers provide documentation, photography, computer simulations, fire and explosion analysis, as well as a technical explanation of documents & drawings.
They can also provide an analysis of manufacturing anomalies and/ or equipment failure.
The Importance of an Accurate Car Accident Investigation
When a car accident happens, the hired personal injury attorney will conduct a thorough investigation. With the help of these experts, each detail of the accident scene is carefully examined and analyzed. Car accident lawyers can always rely on the work of these professionals. They provide essential information about the accident and help the lawyers in their investigation.
