Crash Bytes (Sept. '10)

Oh . . . That's Bad. No . . . That's Good!

When do post-impact tire marks at a crash scene go from looking “bad” to looking “good”? When they prove the accident was staged!

We analyzed an impact between two pickup trucks with significant injuries reported in the Claimant vehicle. The Insured vehicle driver claimed his brakes didn’t work and he hit the poor innocent stopped Claimant vehicle. Investigating officers found 14 feet of post-impact tire marks leading from the front of the Insured vehicle to the rear tires of the Claimant vehicle. Using a nominal drag factor range and the known weights of the vehicles we calculated the Claimant vehicle delta-V at about 17 mph and the Insured vehicle impact speed at a minimum of about 29 mph.

Trouble is . . . there were only minor dents and scratches on the vehicle bumpers. When we researched impact testing that was done on the two vehicles we determined that the actual impact speed (if an impact had actually occurred) could not have exceeded 6 mph, and the resultant delta-V for the Claimant vehicle could not have been greater than 3.3 mph, which certainly wasn’t enough of an impact to cause any injury, and might have moved the Claimant vehicle forward all of a whopping 7 inches!

Our analysis proved the 14 feet of “post-impact” tire marks must have been staged and could not have been caused by an impact between the two vehicles. What will they think of next? How about a reported stolen vehicle that couldn’t be driven....