FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF VEHICLES

When disputes arise between operators, vehicle equipment manufacturers and vehicular service
providers involved in vehicular accidents, many times, a forensic engineer can determine true causation
from the physical evidence, diffusing erroneous allegations and legal theories asserted by other parties.
Questions which seem complicated or a subject of dispute by laypeople, often aren’t, as physical
evidence often exists to substantively settle a matter; it’s just a matter of knowing what to look for.

Forensic examinations can even detangle complicated cases. In such matters, engineers can often
inspect: car, tire and crash dynamics, to pinpoint the cause and may even steer focus towards an
operator who ignored tire pressure warning lights as evidenced by onboard system control module
history.

Full Mechanical Examination of Vehicles

This would include the removal of the appropriate wheels, examination of the brakes, steering and
suspension components. It would also cover aspects of performance enhancing equipment to ensure
the compliance and roadworthiness of the vehicle.

During the examination we would also investigate the possibility / causation of any mechanical
component failures. Photographs of the damaged components would be taken and where applicable
those items would be removed for forensic analysis to determine the type of failure the component has
been subjected to. Where applicable we undertake our own in-house metallurgy.

Full examination to include dismantling to establish if there were any mechanical defects either caused
as a result of the collision or whether they caused or contributed towards the collision.

Mechanical fit

In order to establish that the impact patterns, heights & widths of damage sustained are consistent, a
mechanical fit of the actual vehicles involved is always preferred.

Forensic vehicle examination

Under this heading vehicles are examined specifically to obtain impact witness marks, extent of damage
sustained, crush damage / intrusion, heights, widths and type of contact damage to establish (a) the
consistency of such contact damage and (b) the area and angle of such damage relevant to another
vehicle or object. The physical examination of a vehicle is important in order to establish component
failure, consistency of damage, speed of impact etc

Consistency reports

These can be produced as a result of either physical inspection of one or all parties’ vehicles concerned
(semi-desktop) or as a full desktop report. This type of report is a combination of analyzing vehicle
damage i.e. area and extent, mirror imaging of damage sustained and consideration of the alleged
accident circumstances. Specialist software assists in confirming the possible and probable areas of
contact to enable the veracity of the claim to be considered. All consistency reports include a vehicle
damage assessment which includes repair method and cost and are supported by various documents;
these are appended to our consistency report. They include / based upon Thatcham e-scribe, Glass’s
Evaluator, RAC and DVLA checks and Autodata. Dependant upon the initial vehicle examination a
supplementary report in respect of vehicle electronic data and analysis is also appended when
applicable.

Tyre investigations / component failure

In the eventuality of a deflated tyre when a vehicle is involved in a collision it is some times necessary to
consider that a tyre defect may have caused or contributed towards the collision. In this regard careful
examination of the tyre is necessary in order to ascertain the type of failure sustained. In the
examination of tyres we use detailed photography and a number of tyre depth gauge options which
include a calibrated police dial gauge and a VOSA digital calibrated tread depth gauge.

Paint depth readings

Using a calibrated digital paint depth gauge capable of automatically selecting ferrous and none ferrous
materials paint depths can be recorded throughout a vehicles structure and are an excellent means of
detecting body filler and / or panel joints. By using such an instrument one can establish the area and
extent of a repair and when appropriate where panels have been sectioned. In most of the hit and run
or accident cases the vehicle involved may carry traces from the scene of occurrence or from the other
vehicle involved, or the victim. Commonly the following clues are found on the vehicles:  Finger and
palm prints, tool-marks and fabric prints.  Hairs, fibers, bloodstain or skin pieces from the victim. 
Small broken parts or fragments of the vehicle or the article hit.  Broken glass, paint, greases and
lubricants from the vehicle, which was hit and control samples from the suspected vehicle for similar
articles to those left at the scene.  Dust, mud and dirt from the scene of occurrence, from the victim or
from the driver. Cigarette and 'Bidi' butts from the vehicle.  Mechanical fault in the vehicle.  Evidence
related to changes in paint and numbers on registration plate, serial number on engine and chassis. 
Evidence related with overloading of vehicle.  The load on a vehicle may leave characteristic smell on
the way through which it has moved.

The Vehicle(s) The condition of the vehicle(s) involved in the incident is important for two reasons:  Is
the vehicle itself a cause of the incident? Besides the above, special attention is also required to be given
to the following aspects in thorough investigation of road accident:  Speed Speed of the vehicle at the
time of road accident can be one of the most important factors. It need to be determined because of
two primary reasons. First, speed itself can cause the crash. An example of this is loss of control when
cornering. Such accidents are usually caused by driving too fast or either one or combination of the
following reasons:

 The ability of the driver  The performance of the vehicle  The condition of the road. This is apparent
when the car leaves curved skid marks of a vehicle cornering at the limits of adhesion. The other
principal reason for estimating the speed is to use it as a factor in the analysis of the incident. The speed
can be calculated by the following methods:  From the length of skid marks;  From the radius of
curved scuffmarks;  From the extent of vehicle damage.

Extent of Vehicle Damage The damage to the vehicle is mostly directly proportion to the speed i.e. the
faster the vehicle is traveling (when it hits something) the greater will be the damage (Fig-5). The extent
of the damage to the vehicles of similar size in similar impacts is comparable and is perhaps rather more
unexpected.

This provides another useful tool for determining the speed of vehicles in road traffic incidents. Vehicle
damage alone will not enable the exact speed of a car to be calculated as the extent of the damage
depends on the change in speed brought about by the collision.