What a Crash Reconstructionist Does for Your Injury Case

Published October 25, 2022 · Injury Law Basics

"He came out of nowhere." "She ran the light." "I was going the speed limit." In many serious crashes, both drivers tell a story, and the stories do not match. When the injuries are severe and the insurance company says its driver was not at fault, the case may depend on someone who was not there at all: a crash reconstructionist.

Before I practiced law, I spent nineteen years with the Dayton Police Department. Police work teaches you that physical evidence tells a more reliable story than anyone's memory, if someone collects it before it disappears. Here is what reconstruction experts do, what they need, and why the clock starts the day of the crash.

What a reconstructionist is

A crash reconstructionist is an expert, often a former police crash investigator or an engineer, who uses physics and physical evidence to determine how a collision happened. The questions are usually:

• How fast was each vehicle going?
• Where was the point of impact?
• Could each driver see the other in time to avoid the crash?
• Did someone brake, swerve or accelerate, and when?
• Who entered the intersection or lane first?

Ohio's Evidence Rule 702 allows expert testimony on matters beyond the knowledge or experience of ordinary jurors, from a witness qualified by specialized knowledge, training or experience, when the testimony rests on reliable scientific or technical information. Rule 703 allows the expert to base opinions on facts the expert perceived or that are admitted in evidence. A good reconstructionist turns skid marks and crush damage into testimony a jury can understand.

The evidence a reconstructionist uses

Roadway marks. Skid marks, yaw marks from a sliding turn, gouges where metal dug into the pavement, and the debris field all show where vehicles traveled and where they collided. Rain, traffic and street sweepers erase them within days.

Vehicle damage. The location and depth of crush, measured carefully, helps calculate the energy of the impact and the direction of the forces. Once a vehicle is repaired or crushed for scrap, that evidence is gone.

Event data recorders. Most modern passenger vehicles have an event data recorder, the "black box," that can capture speed, braking, throttle and seat-belt use in the seconds before a crash. Downloading it requires the vehicle and the proper equipment. I explained why this data must be preserved in our post on black-box evidence.

Scene measurements and mapping. Investigators measure lane widths, sight lines, grades, and the positions of signs and signals. Many now use laser scanning or aerial photography to create an accurate map.

Video. Dashcams, business cameras, doorbell cameras and traffic cameras can show speed and timing frame by frame. Most systems record over themselves on a regular cycle.

Signal timing and the police file. For intersection crashes, signal timing records can show which light was green. The police report, photographs and officers' measurements are also important, though they are a starting point rather than the final word.

Where reconstruction makes the difference

Disputed intersection crashes. Under R.C. 4511.43(A), a driver at a stop sign must stop and then yield to vehicles approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard. When a driver who ran a stop sign claims the other car was speeding, a reconstruction can establish what each driver could see and when. Our page on intersection collisions covers these cases.

Rear-end and chain-reaction crashes. R.C. 4511.21(A) requires drivers to be able to stop within the assured clear distance ahead. In multi-vehicle crashes, reconstruction sorts out which impact caused which injuries.

Truck crashes. Commercial trucks often have additional electronic data, and trucking companies send their own investigators to the scene quickly. Your side needs equal expertise; see our page on car and truck accidents.

When the police report is wrong. Officers do their best with what they have at the scene, often while caring for injured people and clearing traffic. Sometimes the conclusion in the report is mistaken. A reconstruction based on full data can correct it.

Answering the insurer's expert. In serious cases, insurance companies hire their own reconstructionists. Without a qualified expert of your own, their version may go unanswered. Reconstruction can also help answer the "minor impact" argument insurers use to downplay injuries, which I discussed last month in The "Low-Impact" Myth.

Why timing is everything

A reconstructionist can only work with the evidence that still exists. Within a few weeks:

• marks on the road fade or are paved over;
• totaled vehicles go to salvage auctions, where they are dismantled or crushed;
• video is overwritten;
• debris is swept up and damaged signs or guardrails are replaced.

The tool for stopping this is a preservation letter sent to the other driver, the insurers, the tow yard and any business with cameras. Once a party has been told in writing that litigation is likely, destroying the evidence is no longer an innocent mistake; the Supreme Court of Ohio recognized a separate claim for willful destruction of evidence in Smith v. Howard Johnson Co., 67 Ohio St.3d 28, 1993-Ohio-229. The best result, though, is to keep the evidence in the first place. Our guide chapters on gathering evidence while it still exists and why you should talk to a lawyer early explain the process.

Who pays for the expert

Reconstruction experts are not cheap, and many injured people assume they could never afford one. In our office, case costs such as expert fees are advanced by the firm during the case, and how they are handled at the end is spelled out in the written fee agreement. You do not pay an attorney fee unless we recover. Not every case needs a reconstruction; when liability is clear, we would rather spend the case's resources on proving your injuries. When fault is disputed and the injuries are serious, it is often the most important investment in the case.

What this means for you

If you were seriously hurt in a crash and the other driver is blaming you, or the police report gets it wrong:

1. Do not let your vehicle be released to salvage until a lawyer has decided whether it needs to be inspected.
2. Photograph the scene, the vehicles and any marks on the road as soon as you are able.
3. Write down any cameras you noticed nearby.
4. Call a lawyer quickly so preservation letters go out while the evidence still exists.