Vehicle technical examination, transport and trace evidence examination, and comprehensive vehicle technical examination of the causes of road traffic accidents
Vehicle Technical Examination:
The tasks of a vehicle technical examination are:
to identify faults in the vehicle that posed a threat to road safety, the causes of these faults, and the time at which they occurred (prior to, during, or following the road traffic accident);
to establish the mechanism of the road traffic accident and its elements: speed (based on skid marks and damage), braking and stopping distances, trajectory, the distance travelled by the vehicle over specific time intervals, and other spatial and dynamic characteristics of the accident etc.
The speed of vehicles, based on their damage, can be determined using software packages for studying the mechanism of road accidents, which are recommended for implementation in expert practice;
establishing the compliance of the vehicle driver’s actions in a given road situation with the technical requirements of the Road Traffic Rules, the driver’s technical ability to prevent an accident from the moment the danger arose;
The moment of occurrence of danger to traffic, as a rule, should be indicated in the document on the appointment of an expert examination (engagement of an expert).
An indicative list of questions:
Causes of internal combustion engine malfunctions?
Determination of the basic linear fuel consumption rate (gasoline and diesel fuel) of vehicles?
What malfunctions, based on the requirements of the Road Traffic Rules for the technical condition of the vehicle, did the system (mechanism, unit, unit) of this vehicle have?
Are there any malfunctions in the vehicle under study that could have been the technical cause of the accident?
When, in relation to the moment of the accident, its occurrence or in the process of its development, did these malfunctions occur?
What is the reason for the failure of this mechanism, system (steering, brake system, etc.) of the vehicle?
Did the driver have the opportunity to detect the malfunction before the accident?
Did the driver have the technical ability to prevent the accident if this malfunction was present?
What was the vehicle speed at different times during the accident (if the traces are of different lengths or are interrupted, this should be indicated)?
What was the speed of the vehicle, taking into account the damage it received during the collision or collision with a fixed obstacle?
What is the maximum permissible speed of the vehicle under the given road visibility (it is indicated what the road visibility was)?
What is the maximum permissible speed of the vehicle on a road curve of a given radius?
What is the minimum safe distance between vehicles in a given traffic situation?
What is the distance required to safely overtake a passing vehicle in a given traffic situation?
What is the braking and (or) stopping distance of a vehicle at a certain speed in a given traffic situation?
How should the driver have acted in this traffic situation in accordance with the technical requirements of the Traffic Rules?
Did the driver have the technical ability to prevent a collision from the moment the danger to traffic arose or from the moment an obstacle to traffic was detected?
Did the driver’s actions comply with the technical requirements of the Traffic Rules?
Were the actions of the vehicle driver technically causally related to the accident?
At what speed was the vehicle moving? If this speed exceeded the established limits (specify which ones), then did the driver have the technical ability to avoid contact with the obstacle (specify which ones), if this speed did not exceed the permissible one?
Did the driver have the technical ability to stop the vehicle by emergency braking from the moment the danger to traffic arose (the moment of the danger is indicated), without reaching the obstacle (pedestrian)?
Transport and Trace Evidence Examination:
The objectives of a transport and trace evidence examination are:
to identify a specific vehicle based on the tracks it has left, or to determine its make and model;
determining the relative positions of the vehicles at the moment of contact;
determining the point of collision between the vehicles and the point of impact with an obstacle (pedestrian), and establishing the mechanism by which the marks were formed;
the position of the vehicle in relation to the carriageway at the moment of contact; and so on.
These tasks are solved by studying the traces found at the scene of the accident and damage to vehicles. Therefore, it is advisable to order a transport and trace examination only when it is possible to provide the expert with objects that were in contact or case materials in which traces are recorded.
An indicative list of questions:
Are there any marks (specify which ones and on what) left by the running parts (wheels, tires, tracks, etc.) of this vehicle?
What is the contact mechanism of the vehicle?
Are there any marks left by any protruding parts of this vehicle?
What type (make, model) of vehicle is the one that left these marks?
What was the relative position of the vehicles at the time of their collision?
What was the relative position of the vehicle and the obstacle (pedestrian) when it hit the latter? What was the mechanism of contact between the pedestrian and the vehicle? Who of the persons who were in the vehicle during the accident (indicate the last names, first names and patronymics of the persons) was driving (to resolve issues about the relative position of the vehicle and the victim and about the person who was driving the vehicle, a comprehensive forensic, transport and traffic accident examination is assigned)?
Which of the vehicles was stationary and which was moving during the collision?
At what point on the road did the collision of vehicles (hitting a pedestrian) occur?
What is the mechanism of track formation (impact, sliding, etc.)?
In what direction was the vehicle moving relative to the track-receiving surface?