Accident Reconstruction Experts and Serious Car Accidents and Collisions

In our serious injury practice, we are often encountered by cases where there is a dispute concerning liability for a particular collision. The tractor-trailer driver contends that he was forced off the road by an unknown John Doe motorist. The at fault driver who ran over the pedestrian claims that he or she could not see the pedestrian due to lighting conditions. The driver who is speeding denies that, in fact, he was speeding, and on and on. In cases involving serious or catastrophic injuries and/or death, it is often necessary in such cases to retain the services of a qualified accident reconstruction expert to establish exactly what happened. A qualified forensic engineer typically can reconstruct an accident based on measurements made at the scene by investigating police officers and/or based on the physical damage to the vehicles. A crush analysis can be performed on vehicles whereby a trained accident reconstruction expert can determine the speed of the vehicle which had to have occurred in order to create the objective crush damage to the vehicle. For example, if a vehicle’s front end is knocked in by a foot or so by another vehicle, the engineer can get the respective weights of the vehicles and can determine through calculations exactly how much force had to be applied to deform the vehicle to such an extent. This then can be translated into speed which can prove liability on behalf of the driver who caused the collision.
For those unfortunate victims of serious injury claims, particularly in those cases where there is a dispute concerning liability for a particular crash or collision, it is necessary that such a victim confer with counsel who is experienced dealing with accident reconstruction experts. Quite literally, a good accident reconstruction expert can either make or break a case where liability is contested. Our firm likes to use engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology because they carry quite a bit of credibility with local juries. However, we have also worked with accident reconstruction experts throughout the country depending upon the type of vehicle collision involved. For example, there are some experts that specialize in under-ride situations where a car under-rides a tractor-trailer, there are other experts who specialize in engineering issues concerning the design of dangerous roads and bridges and there are other experts who have considerable expertise with respect to rollovers, seatbelts, brakes and the like. The point to be made, of course, is that in any serious or catastrophic claim, the victim needs to confer with counsel who is experienced in dealing with forensic engineers so that responsibility for a particular collision can be reconstructed by that engineer and liability established. Without proof of liability, of course, counsel’s ability to obtain compensation for the innocent victim of a serious collision is limited, thus because such proof is so important, an accident reconstruction expert should always be considered in any potentially serious injury case involving contested liability issues.