The investigation of a traffic accident

Forensic experts are essential in the investigation of accidents. Normally a traffic accident is a complex and difficult to understand event both for people in general, as a lawyer and / or a court. For this it requires a forensic expert for objective evidence about the accident.

Scene accident - site for forensic expert

The forensic expert has often able to determine as events occur and / or to determine what events did not occur. This information is used by lawyers to determine who is responsible for the accident and carry out the claim.

Many forensic experts working for individual insurers, or to lawyers who made claims on the private sector companies. Indeed, in some countries these experts work as civil servants.

Forensic experts based their analysis on the information they can gather the accident. This can be:

- Reports of the accident.

- The statements of witnesses.

- Videos of CCTV.

- Videos and pictures that could be taken by individuals.

- Photographs of the accident, if they were taken and there.

- Medical reports of injuries displayed by people involved in the accident.

- Plans of the accident site

- Documents traffic signs in the place where the accident occurred.

- Reports on the climatic conditions at the time of the accident.

Additionally, the forensic expert often requires going to the scene to take, for example, measurements of skid marks (or others that may make the vehicle tires). These traces allow, in some cases, calculating the speed of the vehicles involved.

It is also required to verify the existence of elements that could obstruct the view of drivers (such as traffic signals misplaced or trees) and can be a cause of the accident and evidence to determine the liability of the act. In some cases the elements obstruct the view and it is not possible that the driver can see the traffic signals.

If you can know the position delos fragments off the vehicles involved on the track, this evidence can help to determine the point of impact. Also, in case of an accident involving leakage may be possible to relate a vehicle with the fragments found at the scene.

Even there have been cases where DNA testing can relate a vehicle accident involving leakage of fact and determine the responsibility of the driver.

Qualified forensic experts who know how to take evidence and how to research, to avoid loss of important information that you can not recover after required.

In some cases, the state of the road (both asphalt and traffic signals) may be the cause of the accident. In some cases, you can shift the blame and avoid sanctions insurance when this can be demonstrated. Moreover, you can get to demonstrate the accountability of government entities in the accident.

Experts are required to (and in some cases lawyers) come quickly to the accident. This in order to carry out the investigation of the scene of the accident while the scene is preserved and the evidence has not been altered.

If possible, you should obtain the statements of witnesses as quickly as possible, before they start to forget important details. It is also possible that over time, and after talking to others, witnesses corrupt their version of events.

Very honest and accurate forensic experts are required, working with experts also lawyers. A traffic accident investigation and its claim is a service that must be provided by a good lawyer, working as a team with researchers.

Photo credit: I, Fredhsu [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

History - traffic accidents

In 1896 a pedestrian dies as the story goes, and the first car driver happened in 1898. Given the advancement of technology at that time, you can ensure that these choches not run at high speeds, are achieved as today . We are also confident that the roads were not paved, there was no traffic lights or signals on the tracks, and moreover, there was no traffic agents of the state responsible for the prevention of accidents and traffic management.

It is traffic accidents, and it was said when they talked about the universality of traffic accidents, the only difference between accidents that occurred over 110 years and accidents today, makes the magnitude and quantity. According to global agencies, traffic accidents and pass the 1,200,000 deaths / year, making them the leading cause of death worldwide (surpassing deaths from war or common criminals). Furthermore it is estimated that the cost generated by these traffic accidents spends 500,000 million dollars a year, so that the World Bank will consume about 25% of its global health resources in addressing traffic accidents, endangering the viability of global health policies.



If traffic accidents viewed from sustainable development, is that the policies of prevention, education and repression generate traffic accidents are dubious because they do not guarantee human security. It can be said then that the accident must be analyzed from many points of view, not only from the legal side and the economic consequences, but also in sustainable development and as an element that can eventually impact more severely than today, in the world economy.

For the curious, I'll expand a bit on the first traffic accident said. It is an accident happened in Ireland, where Mary Ward dies at 42 years of age (31 August 1896) when he falls for a vehicle that had steam engine and had been designed by his cousin. Mary Ward was a scientist and pioneer in the fields of microscopy and telescoping eminent.

The August 17, 1896 dies Bridget Driscoll, a 44-year-old mother of two children. This happens in an accident with a car of the Anglo-French company (The Roger-Benz) to the dizzying speed of 7 km / h. The car was performing a demonstration to the public and was led by Arturo Edsell employee (wearing three weeks driving). A lengthy investigation of six hours, after which the jury gives its verdict of "accidental death", which was not carried out any legal proceedings against the driver or the company that owns the car was made. As a curious thing one can cite the speed (7 km / h) was described as tremendous and the coroner said that an accident like this does not happen again.

The first fatal crash of a car into a tree leaving a dead man occurred on February 12, 1898, when Henry Lindfield, a businessman, died in hospital several hours after the accident. Here too there was a verdict of "accidental death."

Photo credits:  By Thue (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons