When figuring out who is responsible for an accident, sometimes figuring out the fault is going to be hard. If you were hurt because of the actions of another, you will need to prove liability. One of the ways to do that is through a reconstruction of the accident, through the use of experts.
What are Accident Reconstruction Experts
These are people who are good at recreating collision scenarios. They might be retained by one side or another to determine who is responsible for a crash. If the case moves to discovery, the deposition may be evidence in court, and they might also provide testimony in the event of litigation.
How is it Recreated?
Typically, they do this through investigation, similar to how detectives investigate crimes.
These might involve the following:
- Going to the accident scene.
- Interviewing the eyewitnesses
- Getting the police report and looking at it.
- Looking at surveillance footage
- Checking medical records
- Looking at vehicle damage
- Reviewing the photographs of the scene or debris, property damage, skid marks, etc.
- Looking at the black box data
This may be reconstructed at this point using 3D models to reenact this in order to provide a presentation of just what happened during the trial.
Who Needs it
Some cases may require an expert in reconstruction, especially if there is no big disagreement on liability, or there is enough evidence to establish the liability of the party without needing experts.
However, there are a few things that’ll strengthen whether or not you will need an accident reconstruction expert:
- The liability is left unclear
- No eyewitnesses
- No dashcam or other footage
- Focal pieces of evidence are missing or destroyed
How can they Help?
Reconstruction experts help with cases in a variety of ways by doing the following:
- Giving deposition and testimony to show how accidents happened
- Overcoming the inaccurate or untruthful deposition that’s provided
- Helping to resolve disputes that pertain to evidence behind contradictory
- Looking for evidence that’s important and will strengthen the case itself.
One benefit to this as well is that usually, their findings have a lot more credence than the attorney on the plaintiff’s side. That’s because the jury is usually more inclined to trust someone who is a more neutral expert than the lawyer that’s trying to seek out damages financially.
However, that doesn’t mean your personal injury attorney won’t be helpful. They can be focal for the success of the case. They know the value of the case, and they can help you get the testimony proven.
Having the reconstruction expert is good, simply because it’s more evidence based, is cable of being a big revelations as well.
They can also help with answering questions, such as the following:
- Were they speeding? Does it contribute to the accident
- What maneuvers happened before the collision
- Were the brakes used?
- Was the person texting and driving
- Does the damage indicate that the injuries were caused by that?
- Was anyone not wearing a seatbelt?
- Was there bad weather conditions or roads?
- Was it unsafe to drive the car due to tire pressure, issues with the brakes, or other mechanical problems that contributed to the crash?
For a lot of people, it can be a beneficial thing to bring someone who is an expert on this to build it together once again, simply because it will change how the accident is viewed, and also how the case will end up setline in court down the line.