A proper collision scene documentation, lovingly referred to as a scene doc, will make or break the investigation… guaranteed! While not necessarily all inclusive, here are a few evidence collection / documentation techniques that have served me well over the years.
Some, if not most, collision scene evidence is short lived, and tire marks (more…)
“Was a dark stormy night as the train rattled on…” Anybody? 1985? Scarecrow? Come on… this was when Cougar was still a Mellencamp! Ok… it was called Grandma’s Theme… you’ll have to look that one up… but as I sat down to write this blog on the environment, that song kept running though my head. If you look it up, it will have a similar effect… just a little warning.
In our last installment of the 9-Cell Collision Matrix let’s travel down the wet, slippery slope of environmental factors that can contribute to car crashes, and maybe take a closer look at the things around us, at or near our crash scene that may reveal some important clues. (more…)
Murder, suicide, deceit, and intrigue… car crashes? You bet! In our next installment of the 9-Cell Collision Matrix let us dive a little deeper into the glue that binds all this together, the human element.
Photo by Mark Turner
Let’s begin with the most basic human element at the root cause of car wrecks, our old friend inattention. Inattention… a vast word that encompasses many lackadaisical conditions. The daydreaming 16-year-old in math class, the radio knob turner, the back seat talker, the quarter pounder with cheese eater, and perhaps the most offensive, the cell phone user. All very dangerous behind the wheel, and one very dangerous to your future… as it turns out, you will always need good math skills… ask me how I know? Driving is of course a divided attention endeavor, (more…)
Please join us in welcoming Senior Collision Reconstructionist Mark Turner, ACTAR, to the WARREN family!
Mark’s Areas of Expertise Include:
When it comes to diagramming a crash scene, there are several methods to accomplish the task. Forensic Mapping, (locating, positioning, and documenting the evidence of a collision scene to scale) is essential to having the answers to the questions “Who, What, Where, When, and Why?”. Photographs do a great job showing what the investigators saw post collision; yet they lack scale and the ability to describe pre-collision movement. Having a computer aided diagram (CAD) of the collision scene goes much further than the pictures can; here is why.
A scale diagram gives the full overview of a collision scene from either a 2D or 3D point of view. Being able to see how things lined up, how they came together and how they parted helps explain the events within a crash. When a scene can be viewed from top down or any angle, that helps relay the facts. The investigator, judge, or jury will get (more…)
A large agricultural trailer had been connected to a truck using a clevis pin with a spring locking clip. The trailer became disconnected from the truck and collided with an oncoming vehicle. The trailer was in poor condition, did not have safety chains, and had substantial recent modifications by the owner. (more…)
A forklift fell off the loading dock of a warehouse as it was in the process of entering a semi-trailer that was being loaded. The forklift fell because the semi-trailer and the connected truck rolled away from the edge of the loading dock as the forklift passed over the dock leveler into the trailer. The repeated braking forces of the forklift as it carried loads onto the trailer caused the trailer to move away from the loading dock. The semi-trailer wheels were not chocked to prevent movement away from the loading dock. (more…)
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