California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
What Is an Accident Reconstruction Expert?
An accident reconstruction expert is a professional with training and qualifications in recreating collisions. They use education, training, and experience to determine how the crash happened and who or what caused it. These experts have engineering, forensic engineering, law enforcement, and/or science backgrounds and use math and physics to learn what happened during an accident. They take the “human” error out of eyewitness accounts and use science to show why and how a crash took place. When you work with us as your local personal injury attorneys, we make sure we are presenting your strongest case possible and that often involves employing experts to show exactly what happened when you were injured. Simply put, we work with the best to create your strongest case and get you the most money following your accident.
Recreating an Accident
When determining how an accident occurred, reconstruction experts act like detectives investigating evidence of a crime. To make conclusions, it’s common for experts to:
- Visit the scene of the accident,
- Interview witnesses,
- Review the police report,
- Watch surveillance footage,
- Review medical records,
- Inspect vehicle damage,
- Review photographs, debris, skid marks, and other evidence, and
- Analyze black box data.
Based on this data, different crash scenarios can be constructed and 3-D reenactment models created using computer programs and other modeling technology.
When Would You Need This Expert?
Though some cases may not require an accident reconstruction expert, there are a number of different situations surrounding personal injury cases where their knowledge and skills can be useful. These experts can step in when:
- No eyewitnesses exist,
- Critical pieces of evidence are destroyed or missing,
- Vehicles are so badly damaged they are unable to be repaired,
- Liability is in dispute or unclear based on the case,
- Someone died in the crash, or
- You can’t remember what happened due to your injuries.
In addition to using science to recreate the accident and exactly what happened, a qualified expert can provide additional value to your personal injury case. An experienced reconstruction expert should be able to testify clearly about their findings, answer questions clearly, and explain themselves in a way a jury can understand. In addition to testifying about what happened in the accident, an expert can use their qualifications, education, and experience to:
- Determine the truthfulness of witnesses,
- Give expert testimony and enter findings as evidence at trial
- Interpret unclear or contradictory evidence
- Corroborate your account of the accident
- Find and interpret evidence others don’t see or can’t interpret.
Their analysis and their testimony in depositions and trial can greatly affect a decisionmaker’s perception of how an accident occurred and who’s to blame, which impacts your ability to recover all damages for your Los Angeles personal injury claim.
Contact Walch Law Today
Want to make sure you are presenting your strongest case and getting paid the most possible following your serious accident? Then be sure to choose Calabasas-based Walch Law as your personal injury lawyers. We know how to win cases and we also know how to do it quickly. Get in touch with us now for your free consultation to learn more.