Accident investigation and reconstruction is the scientific process to determine what happened before during and after an incident occurred and identify factors that contributed to the incident and severity. This process relies on the laws of physics, fundamental principles of crash mechanics, vehicle dynamics and kinematics, and a thorough analysis of the physical evidence. DRE staff use multidisciplinary expertise and state-of the-art equipment and software to gather information and reconstruct the accident events based on established engineering and scientific principles.
DRE routinely inspects the exterior and interior of motor vehicles/watercrafts to evaluate and document the physical evidence, as well as measure the post-accident deformation of relevant components. These results, combined with information and measurements obtained from inspection of an undamaged exemplar, provides the basis for establishing the collision loading events. DRE also conducts in-depth accident site inspections to document evidence and provide context to the imposed collision forces and identify site contributing factors, such as road geometry, off-road impediments and visibility issues.
Testing is often conducted to support and/or demonstrate an accident reconstruction analysis. DRE has extensive resources within the company, as well as through established relationships with outside resources, to conduct a wide variety of testing (e.g. crash tests, materials testing).
