The Process

In order to establish whether we can accept an assignment, we first need to conduct a conflict check. The information to provide for our conflict check should include:

✓ Your full name and contact information

✓ Name of the lawyer/insurance adjuster assigned to the file (including his/her contact information)

✓ The file name, file number

✓ Names of all involved parties and all involved counsels

✓ Date of Loss

✓ Important future dates [i.e. examinations for discovery, mediations, pre-trial hearings, trial, etc…]

As the investigation progresses, more information will be available in your file. Depending on what information is available, it would be helpful to provide as much of the following materials to the engineer:

• Motor vehicle accident report
• Statement of claim, statement of defence, statement of crossclaim, etc.
• Police field notes/Memo book entries
• Police collision reconstruction report
• Compact discs (CDs) which contain the raw data retrieved in the course of a ‘Total Station’ survey (if a survey was conducted by police at the collision scene)
• Police video footage taken at the collision scene and/or in the course of any vehicle examinations or vehicle testing that might have been conducted
• Police collision scene Photographs
• Photographs of involved vehicles (taken by insurance adjusters, involved parties, towing company, etc.)
• Vehicle damage documentation (including photographs and damage appraisals)
•  Police witness statements (of all involved parties, not just your client(s))
• Witness statements taken by insurance adjusters
• Transcripts from the preliminary inquiry, Highway Traffic Act trial, examinations for discovery [of all involved parties, not just your client(s)]
• Ambulance Call Report
• Hospital Admission Records and Discharge Summary
• Autopsy report (if there were fatal injuries)
• Traffic signal timing sequence for the intersection in question (date and time of accident must be specified when ordering)
• Other engineering reports already prepared on the case
• Video from surveillance cameras (if applicable)
• Compass Camera footage
• Newspaper articles & photographs

* More complex cases may require additional information. Always check with the engineer.

In order to be able to have an understanding of the collision event, it is imperative that the location of the collision be properly documented:

→ Before any description of the incident can ever begin, there must be a good understanding of the layout and configuration of the location where the collision occurred [i.e.: the way the location looked before the collision occurred]; and

→ In order to be able to begin to reconstruct what occurred in a collision event, the physical evidence that was created in the collision event needs to be thoroughly documented.

The physical evidence at the collision scene forms the foundation of any analysis that is later conducted, and of any opinion that is later reached. As a result, site examination results and evidence documentation are assembled and presented clearly, unambiguously and impartially. Understanding the collision site and the collision-related evidence is fundamental in all cases. 

The documentation of the collision site and the collision evidence always includes detailed measurements and photographs, but may also include:

→ Conducting a Total Station survey;

→ Conducting a 3D laser scan;

→ Roadway design assessment; and

→ Visibility testing (and, when relevant, taking necessary video recordings).

As is the case with the site examinations, any meaningful reconstruction of a collision demands an understanding of the location and the nature of any physical evidence that was created in the collision event. It is important that a vehicle be directly examined as soon as possible following the collision [i.e.: before transient evidence is removed, and/or before the vehicle is no longer available]. 

In cases where a vehicle is not available for direct examination, some relevant evidence can often be obtained from a detailed review of post-collision photographs. (In such cases, measurements of the relevant evidence are possible through the use of photogrammetry.) Typically, the investigation that precedes any reconstruction is aimed at:

→ Determining the positioning of the vehicle with respect to a collision partner and/or the roadway at impact; and

→ Assessing the nature and the magnitude of the impact.

However, our vehicle assessment can also involve:

→ Event data recorder download and analysis;

→ Examination for seatbelt use and assessment of its likely expected effectiveness in the subject collision;

→ Tire failure examination;

→ Headlight use assessment; and

→ Assessing the nature and the magnitude of the impact.

→ Conducting a detailed mechanical evaluation of the vehicle to assess its pre-collision condition.

► Speed determination 1 (estimation):

→ Skid-to-stop calculation

→ Momentum calculation

→ Yaw calculation

→ Vault calculation

→ Estimation from crush measurements

► Distance-time analysis

► Point-of-impact determination

► Seatbelt-use determination

► Determination of the identity of the driver (which of the occupants was driving the vehicle)

► Assessment of the driver’s opportunity to avoid the collision

1 [i.e.: when the available evidence permits such a determination/estimation]

► Assessment of the role of road design/construction/surface condition in the collision event

► Determination of mechanical condition of the vehicle

Once we have all the available evidence, we meticulously reconstruct the events of the collision (at least to the extent that is possible with the available evidence). The analysis and reconstruction of the subject event is a detailed process that can involve the assessment of:

→ Vehicle positioning at impact;

→ Vehicle pre-impact dynamics;

→ Vehicle pre-impact speed;

→ Likely cause(s) of the collision;

→ Stopping distances and times from the apparent speed and posted speed;

→ Driver opportunity to prevent the collision;

→ Likely movement of the occupant(s) within the occupant compartment; and

→ Whether or not the involved driver(s) missed an opportunity to prevent the collision from occurring.

At Raftery Engineering, we believe that providing in-depth and detailed visualizations of our analysis is a critical component to preparing for trial (and in presenting evidence). Often a report will require several different types of visualizations (over and above the typical catalogue of photographs we provide). These can include:

→ Aerial photographs and maps depicting the general collision location;

→ Photographs depicting the general area of the collision as well as the specific views of the involved driver(s) in the relevant seconds leading up to the impact/loss-of-control;

→ Detailed figures depicting the collision location as well as relevant landmarks;

→ Detailed figures depicting various components of the reconstruction including impact positioning, time-distance analysis and avoidance analysis;

→ Animations;

→ Video taken during testing; and/or

→ Models prepared for trial (if applicable).